Why Being a Doula Isn’t Just a Job to Me — It’s a Calling
This Is More Than Work: A Sacred Calling to Support Women Through Fertility, Birth, and Postpartum
By Jacqueline Boyd, CFD & Founder of Eden & Embrace
There are some things you choose — and some things that choose you.
This work chose me.
I didn’t enter this field because it seemed trendy or convenient. I didn’t build Eden & Embrace as a business move. I stepped into this space because I couldn’t ignore the pull — the unmistakable knowing that I was meant to walk beside women during some of the most sacred transitions of their lives.
Fertility. Birth. Postpartum.
These aren’t just life stages. They are thresholds. Holy ones. And being invited into that space is not something I take lightly.
Every time a woman shares her story with me, I pause. I take it in. I ask God for wisdom — not just clinical knowledge, but true discernment. The kind that lets me hold space with care. The kind that helps me speak life into someone who feels overwhelmed. The kind that helps me guide, advocate, nurture, and empower without ever centering myself in the process.
Before every birth I attend, I pray. I ask for guidance. I ask God to steady my hands, soften my presence, and let me be exactly who that family needs in that moment. Sometimes that means holding the energy of the room. Sometimes it means holding her hand. And sometimes it means simply being still and knowing God is in the room too.
This doesn’t feel like a career to me. It feels like ministry.
A quiet kind of ministry. One rooted in compassion and reverence.
People ask me all the time how I do this work — how I stay grounded, how I support others without burning out. The truth is, I don’t carry this alone. My strength comes from God. My calm comes from prayer. My passion comes from something far bigger than me.
This work fills me in ways I can’t always explain. It heals me even as I help others heal. And while it may not always be easy, it always feels right.
So when you reach out to me — whether you're navigating fertility questions, preparing for birth, or entering postpartum — know this:
I already care.
Not because it’s my job. But because it’s my calling.
And I’ll meet you with prayer, purpose, and the steady presence of someone who is all in.