About Me

My name is Megan Goldstein. I am a mother of two incredible children, am married to my high school sweetheart, and have had a lifelong interest in birth. I remember noticing a pregnant woman for the first time when I was not yet three, and asking my mother why her belly was so big. My mother's response had such an impact on me, I spent the next year tucking dollies and stuffed animals under my shirt, walking around "pregnant" with them, and then giving birth to them by pulling them back out (if only it was so easy). I drew pictures of stick figures with gigantic circle bellies and a dot in the middle. (The first time, my mom asked "Is that her belly button?" and I replied, "No, that's the baby.") I asked my mother to tell me my own birth story over and over, and held on to that as a tradition on my birthday through my teens. I looked forward to the experience of pregnancy, birth, and parenthood, knowing in advance how much I would enjoy the journey.

It wasn't until the births of my own children, though, that I ever thought about a career relating to pregnancy or birth. My first child's birth involved medical intervention and medication; my second child's birth did not. More importantly, during my second child's birth I was treated with a lot more warmth and respect than I had been during my first child's birth. I was also kept more informed and was an active participant in my care. The stark difference in my care - and how it made me feel about myself and my births - made me desire to get involved. I decided to become a doula so that I can help more women have the experience of respectful, loving, empowering birth, so that they can emerge from their births with positive feelings about the experience, themselves, their partners, and their babies.

About my certification, education, and memberships

DONA birth doula certification attained December 2007 (trained May 2007)

Lamaze educator training March 2006 (working toward certification)

When Survivors Give Birth conference October 2007

SOLACE traumatic childbirth warmline training October 2007

Member of Lamaze International

Member of DONA International

B.A. Anthropology, 2001, UCLA (How does this apply to childbirth? It taught me that humans are well designed. Our physiological abilities allow us to give birth and breastfeed, and our psychological programming helps us parent our dependent and intelligent children. This knowledge is now fundamental to who I am as a person, parent, and doula.)