Most of my clients are in the early stages of starting a family and good resources are invaluable. I try to find reputable service providers and independent businesses with excellent customer service. That way I can offer more than just photography to my clients. I can support them throughout their parenting journey. I have met with doulas, yoga instructors, midwives, and other businesses to provide a list of excellent resources for my clients. When I stumbled upon the website of Eliza Kay, I knew I wanted to have a chat with her about the services she provides in the Columbus, Ohio area. I was right. She is excellent at what she does and I was happy to hear all about it!
Who is Eliza Kay?
Eliza Kay is a life coach and Certified Professional Midwife(CPM). She helps people have babies at home in Columbus and seh also does virtual coaching. She works with people from pre-pregnancy through their childbearing year (prenatally, birth, and postpartum). Sometimes, she does just prenatal care for folks or just postpartum care, depending on like what their needs are. A lot of times when people are birthing within the hospital system, they might get five minutes with their provider. Some people want to do a little bit more than that, so Eliza Kay will meet with them monthly until they hit the third trimester, then every other week, and then weekly as they get closer to their birth.
Eliza shared, “I also have a high population of super anxious clients. I think it’s probably because I don’t have a whole lot of anxiety. So I think I have a kind of calming aspect on people or something about my personality helps to set them at ease.” Eliza Kay believes there are multiple ways of doing things. Her goal is to get people enough information so that they can make an informed decision.
How it Started
I asked how she got started. Like my journey into photography, her own births led her to birth work. Her oldest child was born via cesarean because she was breech. And then Eliza became involved in ICANN, the International Cesarean Awareness Network, which is kind of a peer-to-peer support group for people who have had cesareans. That’s when she kept hearing the same story over and over from people who were kind of pushed into an induction, and then induction led to cesarean. Many of them felt like they weren’t listened to and that they didn’t have enough information. That’s when Eliza Kay started the route to becoming a doula and childbirth educator.
After attending a friend’s home birth, she knew that is where she needed to be. It was at that point where she looked into Ohio State’s graduate entry program for the Certified Professional Midwife program.
Eliza Kay worked with Choice, which is a group of midwives who are practicing in our area. She did her training with them for about a year before branching out on her own in March of 2019. She has since attended over 250 births. During the early years of COVID, many midwives were facing burnout because the demand for home services was so high. Now, things have settled down a bit and Eliza is able to work a more balanced schedule, attending between 2-3 birthday a month.
When you work with Eliza, the first meeting is through Zoom. She does home visits and also has an office in Clintonville.
Other Eliza Kay Services
Along with home birthing services, Eliza can also offer supplements, assist with diet, and help with stress reduction.
Eliza believes that our bodies innately know how to give birth. What she often observes is that people get stuck in their head a little bit. So part of the whole preparation for birth is starting from the very beginning and understanding the process and what’s going to happen. Part of like what Eliza coaches on is really delving into trusting yourself because as women, we’re constantly told that our bodies are broken and wrong in some kind of way. Eliza Kay helps her clients overcome that and helps these women be able to trust themselves and understand that birth is meant to strip us down so that we can be reborn as, as mothers, as parents.
Recently, Eliza Kay finished training to do IUIs (intrauterine insemination). She is adding that to her services, as well. This is for single parents by choice, queer families that are trying to grow their families, and occasionally those who have infertility.
Eliza says, “One of the best things about being a midwife is that the learning opportunities are limitless, which I really appreciate.”
Are you an expectanting mama who needs to stay active? Check out Go Yoga!
