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Rebecca Durlin Smith, Birth Doula

Rebecca Durlin Smith, Portland Doula

I absolutely love being of service as a doula! I have said yes to my true calling since 2012 and am honored to have provided birth doula care to over 350 families.

My support journey began in 2010 with teaching prenatal yoga. That same year I also gave birth to my oldest child, an experience I’m grateful to still reflect on as the most empowering event of my life. The support and confidence my spouse and I received from our amazing medical team and doula, plus the effort we put into preparing to bond throughout, deepened my passion for birthwork.

While pregnant with our second child in 2012 I became a Bradley Method doula/ childbirth educator. Students from my classes quickly began asking me to join their support team. My daughter was six months old when I attended my first birth – which I told the couple I’d be honored to support if they were comfortable with me taking breaks to pump!

In my early career I primarily worked with people interested in stacking the deck in their favor for an unmedicated birth. Over the years I have developed deep satisfaction in aiding families whose primary support goals are assistance with decision-making and facilitating a nurturing environment. I have an affinity for birthing people with recovery or emotional intensity in their backgrounds and those aiming for a more positive experience than their previous births. I cherish partnering with families who value support with feeling bonded through this huge life transition.

Before my career in birthwork, I served as development manager for a Bay Area civil rights organization, where I learned from professional advocates for a decade. I am always happy to bring out my advocacy skills when families desire.

In addition to being a certified doula, childbirth educator, and prenatal yoga teacher, I am also a placenta specialist, doula mentor for the Mother Tree Doula Internship program, and co-founder of Birth First Doulas. I am privileged to support the career paths of fellow birthworkers, as we expand our ripples of positive change for families.

As your doula, I would be honored to help you build and grow the strength, confidence, and joy potential available in your pregnancy, birth and postpartum experiences. I would be delighted to connect and explore whether we are an ideal match. I look forward to getting to know you – and to perhaps being part of your family story!

inquiry about this doula

Training

N

DONA Certified Doula (Doulas of North America)

N

Cornerstone Doulas Advanced Full Spectrum Birthwork Certification

N

Birth Doula & Childbirth Educator Certification through The Bradley Method

N

Pre/postnatal Yoga Certification through Britt Fohrman

N

Spinning Babies with Gail Tully

N

UT Austin, B.A. Geography/Environmental Resources, Anthropology Minor

Areas Of Specialty

N

Unmedicated Birth, Out Of Hospital Birth, Water Birth

N

Vaginal Birth After Cesarean (VBAC)

N

IVF Pregnancy

N

Surrogacy

N

High Risk Pregnancy/Birth

N

Medical Induction

N

LGBTQIA+ Families

N

Polyamorous Families

N

Trauma Informed Care

N

Survivors Of Sexual Abuse

N

Recovery From Addiction

N

Pregnancy or Infant Loss

N

Body Positive

N

Placenta Encapsulation

N

Childbirth Education

N

Prenatal Yoga

N

Rebozo, Massage, Acupressure, Spinning Babies

N

Aromatherapy

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Rebecca’s Testimonials

“Rebecca was absolutely incredible during both of my births. It’s hard to even put into words the support she provided my family and I. With the first baby I had a very rough birth and she was like a rock in the storm. It initially took a bit to convince my husband that we should get a doula. Not the second time – he now believes in their magic. She was incredibly there for both of us during each of my pregnancies, births and postpartum times. Worth every penny!”

Libby & david, beaverton

“Rebecca ended up being everything I could have asked for in a birth doula and then some, providing me with the incredible birth experience that I didn’t know I even needed and prevented me from having a traumatizing birth experience that I have heard so many others have. With unsettling medical news around every corner, she continued to be a pillar of strength and provided me with an unbiased presentation of all the pros and cons for every decision that came my way. She consoled me as I processed through each obstacle that I faced and held my hand as I walked whichever path I felt was the next best step for me. Rebecca was both a wealth of knowledge and a strong emotional support system for not just me, but my husband as well. I would highly recommend her to anyone who is looking for a kind, compassionate, knowledgeable, skilled, and experienced birth doula.”

dipal & Dirgest, lake oswego

“Rebecca was everything we knew we wanted for the birth of our daughter and everything we didn’t know we needed – just the right mix of supportive and fierce to get us through birth. One of my biggest hopes in having a doula was having someone to support my husband as well as me. During labor and delivery, Rebecca and my husband worked nearly seamlessly together-they made such a great team that I couldn’t tell who was massaging which foot and one of them was always ready with water or gatorade or other support. Rebecca is very knowledgeable and helped us access information before the birth as well as during the delivery. Also, don’t worry that your relationship with Rebecca will end with birth! She has been a wonderful part of our lives before, during and after birth.”

Elizabeth & Tashi, SE Portland

“We decided to hire Rebecca as our doula for our first baby delivery. She is knowledgeable, responsive and offered us feedback during our birth “plan” development. We learned beyond what we were told from our OB/GYN and got to ask more questions for other options which we weren’t aware of. This gave us more confidence and made us feel better prepared for the big day. We are immensely thankful for the support provided not only to mom but also dad, as the experience was emotionally draining and as first parents we weren’t sure what to expect. Rebecca’s skills included soothing tools as well as encouragement, but she was also deeply empathetic of our situation. We are so grateful we had her there next to us during those times as she became the brain of our labor and helped us stay focused and sane!”

Michael & Veronica, NW Portland

“Rebecca is an absolute treasure! It was such a wonderful blessing to have her love and guidance help me through my second birth journey. The birth of our first daughter (preemie & c-sec) wasn’t an ideal experience. So, when we learned we were expecting again, my number one goal was to have a healing birth. Rebecca is very knowledgeable and made me feel calm and confident when we discussed questions I had. She provided me with helpful resources and made excellent suggestions to help keep me comfortable in my final weeks. During labor Rebecca kept me upright and as comfortable as possible, soothed me through massage, eye contact, and beautiful positive energy. There were a couple times it felt like too much and I wanted to give up. At one point I looked at her and said “no.” She said “yes you can!” Her faith in me and my body was amazing. I can’t put a price on what she helped me accomplish. She’s such a wonderful human being!”

Katie & Shawn, Vancouver WA

“Rebecca was our doula for the birth of our second child. She was so wonderful! She really helped coach both me and my husband through options for us to work through the labor together. She brought a deeply caring, lighthearted, and thoroughly helpful presence to our birth process. She helped root, normalize, and guide the process in a positive direction every step of the way. It takes a special person to do what she does so well. I can’t recommend Rebecca enough.”

Andrea & Jeff, NE Portland