Conversations with Ellie White

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ellie White.

Ellie, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I was introduced to birth in college. My best friend got pregnant and the father couldn’t support or be there for her. I was her support person. It was truly miraculous to watch my Godson be born. Years later, I had 2 births of my own with my husband. I had such a thirst for knowledge and advocacy. I had some interesting things pop up during my pregnancy and postpartum. I wanted to share everything with everyone while helping the family financially.

We are trained our whole lives to work but as a stay-at-home mother, I found it challenging to hang that part of my life away. I wanted to contribute to our family as well as to others. I knew that some of my friends that were pregnant at the same time didn’t have the amassing supportive birth stories I did. It made me sad that birthing people weren’t being treated and supported the way they should be. I knew I still wanted to be a part of birth- but how? I called a doula trainer and asked lots of questions.

In January 2020, I received a financial scholarship and started training when my youngest was 3.5 months old. I slowly looked for Clients, offering free or discounted services to pay it forward while gaining the experience I needed to become certified. It was really hard to drum up the business on my own. I used affordable advertising options and ultimately caught the eye of a Boulder Based Collective of Doulas, Balanced Beginnings Doulas.

The founder loved my photos and approach. I joined them the next day. It was the best business decision I ever made. In April of 2022, I added a much-loved skill to my tool belt, photography. My husband, Jon, got me my first professional camera. Photography was I dream I had since high school. Now I have added maternity and newborn/family photos as well as birth photos.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It was a really hard struggle to get going. I was always questioning.. where will my next client come from? Am I good enough? How can I afford to advertise? Why can’t I find more clients? How can we afford to start a new business when we’re struggling financially? Will this business last?

It was so challenging. Covid threw a wrench in the spokes as well. Hospitals in the area were flooded with extremely sick and dying people. Supplies were limited. Times were scary. Hospitals were limiting the number of support a birthing person could have. I know in some mountain towns birthing people weren’t allowed to have anyone in the room with them.

While in this area, most hospitals would only allow 1 person. I was excluded from 1 client’s birth because of this regulation. It was heart-wrenching for families and clients. I wondered if we would ever recover. WE DID!

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe you can tell us more about your work next?
I try to customize every family’s experience. It will be one of the most intimate moments of their lives, one they won’t be able to get back. I strive to inform, empower, and support their wishes to create positive birth stories.

If things are moving in a way that wasn’t expected, I love to reframe things and highlight all the positive aspects while showing them all the hard work they have done and will continue to do to bring their baby onto the earth side.

Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
I hope that families continue to trend towards advocacy and fight to have informed births that they can be proud of.

Pricing:

• BASIC PACKAGE: Birth Doula Services with photography $2200
• CHOICE PACKAGE: Birth Doula Services with birth photography, placenta encapsulation services, & choice of maternity or newborn photography $2600
• ALL INCLUSIVE PACKAGE: Birth Doula Services, placenta encapsulation services, all photography $3000
• Placenta encapsulation services $250/$300

Contact Info:

• Website: Fourwindsdoula.com
• Instagram: @fourwindsdoulaservices
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/100064100952921/