I’m passionate about mothers and their families. Being a parent is the hardest job you’ll ever have, and I want you to know you are not alone.
About me pages crack me up. I always feel like I never really get to know the person the ABOUT PAGE is about! It’s always so stiff and professional. Well, I am the opposite of stiff and professional. I am laid back and informal. Sure I am professional, but in a fun way. As seriously as I take my work, I just can’t take myself too seriously. I came into the birth world like so many doulas do, right after my first birth. Since that experience I have been obsessed with what parents weren’t being told. I immediately opened a maternity store with my sister, as an “answer” to the problem. Which turned into a radio program for parents (now in it’s 10th year), which turned into my online show. I became a doula a few years after my now 13 year old was born and the rest as they say is history. Three kids later I am still raging against the machine.
As laid back as I may seem, I have done some serious things too. I was honored to serve on the board of directors for Attachment Parenting International for over 5 years, and have written articles for many magazines. I’ve made television appearances and have even been in a documentary. For the last seven years I have been traveling the world training doulas and midwives and introducing them to the wonders of the rebozo. I’ve been a speaker at birth conferences and sat on many panels. Heck, I even directed the play BIRTH by Karen Brody and played Lisa 4 different times in the play. While I am capable of doing serious things I am most happy being silly while I am doing them. If you ever have an opportunity to spend time with me just expect it will be fun. Now that you know a little “about me” I hope to meet you in person.
What makes a birth professional truly relatable is the willingness to bring humor and humanity into a space that can feel heavy and uncertain. The work around pregnancy, labor, and early parenting is emotional, physical, and deeply personal, and the people who support families through it tend to be the ones who can laugh, cry, and listen in equal measure. A laid-back, conversational style helps new parents feel seen rather than judged, and it opens the door to real conversations about what families actually experience in those early days and weeks.
Many advocates and doulas arrive in the birth world through their own first experience of becoming a parent, and that lived experience often becomes the foundation for everything that follows. Once someone has navigated labor, postpartum recovery, feeding choices, sleep questions, and the flood of advice that comes with a new baby, the desire to walk alongside other families tends to grow naturally. This kind of grassroots beginning shapes a perspective that is less about authority and more about companionship, which is why so many in the field describe their work as a calling rather than a job.
Progressive approaches to birth and parenting tend to share a few common threads, including gentle support, shared decision making, and a willingness to question outdated norms. Workshops, conferences, online courses, and live events all offer opportunities for parents and professionals to keep learning together, swap stories, and build community. When education is delivered with warmth, laughter, and a touch of irreverence, it tends to land differently than a strictly clinical lecture, and the lessons are more likely to stick through the long days and short nights of early family life.
Gena Kirby is not just a badass woman and warrior for all the mothers and babies out there; she is also my muse and inspiration. Her dedication and persistence as a mother, Doula and educator have motivated me to learn more about the birth world and all that it entails and have given me the strength to go on as a birth worker and support women to step into their power.
Her workshops are the bomb and fully packed with amazing information, laughter and tears. She has given me an entirely new perspective on birth and parenting. She is real, honest, vulnerable and wise, and I deeply honor and respect her as a woman, a mentor, and colleague. Her ability to gather the right people and to hold space for women in the circle make her Flock Yeah! Events are a must for everyone interested in the newest science combined with deep feminine intuition and insight.
If you ever get a chance to work with her, listen to or learn from her, you will be blessed! I love you, Gena. Please keep on rocking the birth world!
– Ilka Braunstein
