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Christine Ruiz-Bren

cruizbren@yahoo.com

Hi, my name is Christine Ruiz.

My fascination with childbirth and my journey toward becoming a doula began in childhood. My mother was a home birth midwife in El Dorado Hills in the 70's and 80's. From a very early age, I have seen women empowered to make their own choices about the kind of birth they would like to have, I have learned to trust the birth process, trust the body, and trust the mother.

I became a doula after becoming the mother of three wonderful boys. My first son was born at a hospital with the best intentions of having a natural birth, but I ended up with just about every intervention possible. After that experience I began to search for information about birth practices and choices in anticipation of having another child someday. Eight years later, I gave birth to my second son and then two years after that had my third son  at The Birth Center with no interventions.  I was able to achieve two beautiful natural births with the loving support of my doula and midwife. The empowerment I carry with me to this day from those birth experiences led me into helping other mothers achieve their own birth desires.

My journey to becoming a doula began in 2001 when I was asked to provide labor support to my friend. The awesome experience of being present for the labor and birth of a new baby and my own positive birth experiences inspired me to seek professional training and become a doula. Furthermore, I have had the incredibly rewarding opportunity to volunteer in the community to give to other women in need: labor support, breast feeding support, and childbirth education.

As a doula, I believe that labor and birth support do not end at. I feel it is important to support the new mom both personally in dealing with the new reality of motherhood and in establishing a breast feeding relationship with her new baby. I have training in breast feeding support through the La Leche League and work with moms to help them establish a satisfying breast feeding relationship with their newborn.