I’m a birth and postpartum birthworker and FEMM trained fertility awareness specialist. I have been an educator my entire life and have a passion for helping people use their own skills and strengths to empower themselves, in birth and in life. I completed my doula training through Bebo Mia, am trained in the FEMM fertility management program, and am currently working on my childbirth educator training through Cornerstone Birthworker Training. I specialize in emotional, physical and informational support for every stage of life, whether that’s navigating boundaries in the postpartum period or creating a personalized birth wishes plan to prep for labor. I believe that my compassion and focus on non-judgmental and evidence-based support helps me work with any client and their specific needs.
Before I transitioned to a career in birthwork, I was a middle school Social Studies and Reading teacher. I adore working with families and believe in the power of community to build each other up (hence why my career choices have focused on community and care!). I also believe firmly that knowledge is power, and I used this to center my drive to help my students discover their own journeys. I decided to become a doula after being inspired by a friend of mine, who was in training herself and showed me both the ways that compassion and care can live in the birth world, and the deep and systemic harm that exists within our medical systems. She emphasized for me that birthwork was a place where I could practice liberation, because I would be working not necessarily within systems of power (the healthcare system, the education system, etc.), but in tandem with them.
In my free time, I enjoy playing games, reading books, cooking, traveling, knitting, and exploring the best city in the world, Chicago! Ask me for my list of resources and things to do in this great city, but beware, it is long!
HI, I’M LEILA WALKER
(SHE/HER/HERS)
MY BELIEFS
You are the expert on you. While we have so much access to collective knowledge (medical, familial, ancestral), you are the only person who has been in your body for your entire life. I want to center that innate knowledge and intuition that you have within you to build your self-empowerment throughout your journey, whatever that may be.
It takes a village. Throughout history, our ancestors leaned on each other in times of hardship and in times of celebration. We shared, fed, comforted, and sat in community with each other. This is my belief about birthwork: that we must lean on our community, so that we can create the world that we deserve to live in. Whether that be a nutritious home cooked meal, education around newborn care, or sitting and listening to each other, I believe that birthwork at its heart is community care.
Knowledge is power. At the center of my practice as a birthworker, I want to help my clients make informed decisions about their bodies and their families. This autonomy comes from knowledge, gathered through evidence based research and a cultural/ancestral lens, to help families feel empowered throughout their journeys on this planet.
Full Spectrum Doula Training: Bebo Mia
- Bebo Mia was a super in-depth doula training that foucsed on the wide range of what a doula could be. We started with an introduction to fertility awareness and tracking, then went deep into the world of TTC (trying to conceive), before spending time on pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period. They also spent time on the business aspect of being a doula - talking through how to make this business sustainable in the long run. This training was much longer and more intense than most other doula trainings I researched. It took about 4 months to complete the modules, and had live and self-paced assignments to complete. There were clinical hours to reflect on, as well as a big written final exam. For someone who is thinking about becoming a doula, I couldn’t recommend Bebo Mia enough! Clink the link below to learn more about the program!
My Trainings
Childbirth Education: Cornerstone Doula Trainings
- Cornerstone is a program that offerns a plethora of trainings for doulas, all with a focus on reproductive and social justice. I loved this virtual/live childbirth education training program to give me the ins and outs of how childbirth education IS justice work: we learned about harm reduction strategies, how to equitably support people of all shapes and sizes, and how our own identities play a key role in our faciliation, among other conversations around race, gender, sexuality, etc. This training helped start my journey into teaching childbirth education, and helped center my own core value as a justice-minded individual in the world of childbirth.
Fertility Awareness: FEMM
- When researching ovulation tracking programs, I had two things in mind: 1) I wanted a program that thought of cycle tracking as much more than just a way to get pregnant, and 2) I looked for a program that would give concrete solutions when my clients ran into issues within their personal patterns. FEMM gave both! FEMM sees ovulation tracking as a way to measure overall health, since the four big hormones (progesterone, estrogen, LH and FSH) all contribute to much more than fertility. FEMM also trains OB/GYNs to read charts and treat each person who comes to them as individuals - doing blood work and other tests to look specifically at what is happening within each person’s unique body.
I am also certified in infant and adult CPR through the American Red Cross, and update this certification every two years.
