Welcome!

Hello and welcome! My name is Katarina. I'm a student doula (CBI) working toward my certification. I am also an Army wife and mama of 2 little boys. My first was a waterbirth at home with a midwife and doula. My second was in a hospital with an OB/GYN and ended up with an emergency cesarean section. My own birth experiences have been vastly different but very fulfilling in different ways. The one thing that helped me greatly were my doulas! For my homebirth, my doula was actually my age. No children of her own but, very knowledgeable as she had had years of experience attending births. With my second baby I chose not to hire one because of how expensive it was in the area we were stationed. I realized this was a huge mistake about half-way through my labor. But, the Lord knew exactly what I needed and sent me a labor nurse that was also a certified doula! She, too, was amazing and helped me so much through my labor and c-section. Once baby #2 came I knew this was something I wanted to do too. 

The name Rapha Shalom, is taken from 2 of my favorite Hebrew names of God, Jehovah-Rapha and Jehovah-Shalom. Rapha Shalom means "healing peace", which is what I hope to bring to people's birth experience. It took me awhile to come up with the name, as I wanted something that would clearly paint the picture of my vision and mission statement. My desire is to offer women a Christ-centered birthing experience, providing them with the love and care of Jesus!

You can find my page on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/doulakatarina