About Milène

Born in South Africa, I moved to the United States just before my thirteenth birthday. My parents, two sisters, and I settled in San Jose, California. I completed high school and continued on into college. 

Even as a teen I had an intense fascination with pregnancy and motherhood. I knew I wanted to work with families in their childbearing years. I couldn't quite figure out what exactly that would be, but I eventually settled on studying psychology in the hopes of becoming a family and marriage counselor. 

During my junior year at university, my husband and I decided to start our family. I had always wanted to start young and focus on a career later, so I didn't feel like I was sacrificing anything. I finished my junior year and that summer our first son was born. 

I had always planned to have a natural birth, but I didn't know what that looked like in the modern American hospital. I assumed my doctors and nurses would help guide me and choose what best supported my goal. Oh boy, did I have a wake up call! I ended up with a cascade of interventions that ended in a c-section delivery.

While I was pregnant with my second son, I prepared for a VBAC. My husband and I took Hypnobabies classes and we hired a doula. My two middle children were both unmedicated hospital births. Our 4th, and final, was born at home. 

In 2021 our family moved from California to Georgia. It took us about a year to get settled (and we're still not totally done!), but so far we love it here. My plan had been to wait until our kids were in school to go back to college, get a nursing degree, and work in labor and delivery. Then one day I had a lightbulb moment. I knew that becoming a doula was what I was being called to do. It is the emotional well being of mothers that truly speaks to my heart. I believe life is all about relationships, and I love being able to form relationships with my clients. It is through relationships that we build trust and how I am able to fully support a family during their sacred birthing time.