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Doula’s, they are becoming more and more well known in the realm of maternity care. I had no idea what a Doula was until I was pregnant with my first child in 2010, and I thought I was rather aware! So now that I am one, I just love them, and in particular one very well loved Doula Angela Gallo. Why? How can we not feel drawn to the radiant energy that Angela throws out, her life experiences have brought her to this work, to serve, to advocate and to honour a woman in this life changing journey. This podcast, we both delve right into the journey of Angela, we talk about her life changing births, how she navigated her experiences and what lessons come from this. We talk birth workers, midwifery, photography, Mexico and more! Climb aboard for this inspiring episode and see the story behind the woman that is extending her self to change the way we perceive and act upon brith and maternity care.
So we begin this episode with Angela’s first pregnancy, this is where it all began. Angela was then, a self described fiercely independent and mobile creature and could not see how children could fit into that… So this is where most of us can agree, pregnancy forces us to re-evaluate and change so many things about our life, perceptions and how we truly see the world we know it. Rebirth some call it!
Angela talks about the pregnancy and how she was so fascinated with each and every day she describes feeling connected and so humbled by the process that her body was going through. Now at this time Angela’s husband was flying in and out from work, this is where the concept of a Doula was discovered as Angela was away from family. Her Doula was a lifeline and provided her with confidence, resources and all that she needed to have this good outlook into the approaching birth.
So 40+5 Angela went into labour, the labour was 45 hours, long and stretching the challenges of the transition from maiden to motherhood. Angela describes feeling supported, even though the birth was (in her thoughts) intensely medicalised. Yet at the 35 hour mark the epidural bought much relief to her and some needed rest. After 3 hours of pushing, Angela describes the sensation of the shell of the past leave her as her daughter Ruby was born. This birth really shaped the word Doula in Angela’s mind, things were happening, she was pushed to the physical limits and found this so profound, that she knew that this was the path to help women achieve these experiences, fill the gaps and explore the full spectrum of Doula work.
We talk about Angela’s first experience as a Doula, with a young baby, we look how Angela felt after her training and how she spent the following years planning and seeing how it all works for her. These years were difficult. From there we talk about the life of a Doula and the toll it can take on the relationship front. We both concur how this has come up in both our lives, both seeking the support for Doulas in the family and community networks. I mean with many things it looks so much different when we are supported. This a great piece of the interview where we really extract the essential needs to support birth workers together. Meaning, we are all essentially in this together and Angela’s work is a credit to that.
We hop into the next pregnancy. Angela describes feeling wild! The due date was the same as her daughter Ruby. Yet at the scan they discovered it was a non-viable pregnancy, Not long after this Angela become pregnant again with Odin. This again was not far off Ruby’s birthday. Angela describes organising her birth team and we head into the birth at 41 weeks. The birth took some twists and turns with the birth pool blowing up and ambulance arriving when Angela wanted perhaps for it to not come. The ambulance unfortunately brought upon intrusive energy. Angela talks about her humorous trip in the ambulance where the labour completely stalled by Angela’s will, she said she will be dammed if she was going to have the baby in the Ambulance! Shop shut! Once they arrived at the hospital Angela knew some of the midwives and felt reassured, she basically jumped on the bed and Odin was born! Angela again loved this birth experience. This pushed her harder to her work!
Lacey Barratt Photography
From here the conversation leads into the all important postpartum period and how Angela’s work is very much aligned with supporting this time. Angela and I talk about mothering, and how the impact of our perceptions of what it means to ‘mother’ I talked about my transition from maiden to motherhood and how I am still learning to ‘mother’ we both concurred that we both feel better as people and mothers when we are working on our selves as people and achieving our loving intentions in life.
We finish up the podcast talking about Angela’s time in Mexico and the state of the maternity system there, this also leads us into the much needed conversations around maternity system in Australia and how we can come together as birth workers to create a more supportive environment for the all important pregnant mother’s.
From Angela
“When I first become pregnant there was a deep curiosity, interest and instinct that I never knew existed… It bubbled right to the surface”.
“I was just so humbled and fascinated at what was happening in my body”.
“After 45 hours of labour I well and truly felt like the phoenix rising from the ashes!”
“I felt so powerful and capable after birth, I felt like I could do anything. Imagine if every women on this planet left her birth experience feeling that motivated, empowered, strong, capable and confident. Imagine what that would do to societal structure and how this would ripple out to the rest of the world”.
“Supported birth workers make better birth workers, better birth workers get better outcomes and experiences for the families they serve”.
“One of the biggest reasons that I didn’t free birth was my fear of my birth team being reprimanded, for birthing the way I wanted to birth”.
“I want to be a stellar person, that will make me a stellar Mum!”.
“Hopefully what I am doing will inspire my kids in a full authentic way to birth the way they want to”.
“It’s a very big illusion that we have childbirth choices in Australia”.
“There is sometimes so much noise surrounding birth”.
“What can I do to make sure that my children, if they do decide to have children, will be 100% supported, loved and respected”.
SPECIAL INSIGHT AT ANGELA’S CREATIVITY IN BIRTH PHOTOGRAPHY
Resources:
Blissful Herbs – Julie Bell – http://melbournedoula.blogspot.com.au/2010/07/melbourne-doula-boutique.html
Lacey Barratt Photography – https://laceybarratt.com.au
Alison Bastain – http://www.flowersociety.org/alison-bastien.html
Looking for a Doula in the Melbourne / Mornington Peninsula? – http://angelagallo.com
Birth workers support – http://angelagallo.com/heart-hustle/
Connect with Angela and BirthNerds:
Website: http://angelagallo.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wombwarrior
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/angelawombwarrior/
About Angela
My name is Angela Gallo and I am a Doula & Birth Photographer working out of Melbourne, Frankston and the Mornington Peninsula at large.
Expecting a baby, feeling overwhelmed, and don’t know where to start?
Or maybe you are bored or unnecessarily terrified from all of the grainy 80’s sex ed videos you’ve been forced to watch for information on birth?
Need your own personal cheerleader to remind you of your super-woman-badass-birth-warrior skills?
Are you looking for some real, honest, consistent, tough love to get you though one contraction at a time?
Need the joy & clarity injected back into your birth story?
Want a passionate, creative photographer to capture some your life’s rarest moments, on camera?
Don’t fret, babe.
You’ve got this.
And I am right behind you.
You’re in the right place.
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