Pittsburgh area prenatal, birth, and postpartum doula offering support for the physical, logistical, and emotional journey of growing your family
Hello! I’m Katharine, a full-spectrum doula who prioritizes the sacred and the science of birth. Whether home birth, hospital, or birthing center, I believe in nurturing your connection to the natural, emotional, and spiritual aspects of birth. While some birthing journeys may benefit from medical support, clinical medicine should be engaged with wisdom. Birth itself is not a medical event. Birth is a powerful physiological process between you and your baby.
I serve the greater Pittsburgh area, specializing in research-grounded holistic practices like natural breastfeeding, herbalism & nutrition, birthwork massage, and non-medical pain relief. Having worked with dozens of families through childbearing and infant-care, I believe birth at its best and safest is centered on physiology and the whole person. Whatever you choose in birth, and however your birth unfolds, I am dedicated to supporting you towards a fully-informed, autonomous, and compassion-filled experience.
As a doula and a feminist, I am committed to justice in birth. My practice is inclusive of different faiths, physical abilities and neurodiversities, ethnicities and cultural backgrounds, loss and trauma histories, body sizes, and family compositions. Supporting mothers, parents and families towards full birthing power is the heart of my work. In discussing your birth, your self-knowledge will guide me.
Wellspring Birth Services
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Birth Support Package
prenatal visits
childbirth education
planning & resources
birth doula services
postpartum follow-up
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Postpartum Support
newborn care
recovery & wellbeing
nursing & lactation
emotional support
home & family care
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Holistic Care
herbalism & aromatherapy
nutrition & gourmet meals
pre- and postpartum massage
events & administrative support
birth art & portraiture
Why hire a doula? What is a doula?
A doula is a non-medical birth professional whose entire purpose is to support you towards your best possible birth experience. When you birth your baby, you may choose to invite a number of people to join you on this journey: your spouse or partner, a parent or friend, health care providers like OBGYNs and midwives, extended family or community. Each one of these people will participate in your birth with their own goals. Health care providers will focus on ensuring your birth goes well from a medical perspective, and they must prioritize the facility policies and legal liability structures under which they work. Your loved ones are witnessing you do the intense work of birthing your baby, and are experiencing a new loved one entering the world. They are with you on your journey, but they are on their own journeys too.
Your doula is the one person in the room whose only priority, only focus, is your wellbeing. Never judging, doulas walk with you to help you navigate the emotional, physical, interpersonal, and logistical paths of birth. They keep sacred any practices or traditions which are important to you. They are birth educators and resource facilitators, helping you navigate the mountains of information and options to find what is right for you. They do not make decisions for you, but rather guard and uphold your choices.
Doulas provide expertise in non-medical birth aids, from natural pain relief, to guiding a distressed family member, to keeping you grounded through any unexpected hurdles.
Statistically, doulas are shown to…
reduced unplanned caesarean rates by 39%
increase satisfaction with birth experience by 31%
reduce use of medical pain relief in labor by 10%
increase the likelihood of spontaneous vaginal birth by 15%
“Doula” is Ancient Greek for “woman who serves.” We have always helped each other in birth.
Katharine’s Trainings & Certifications
DONA-trained Birth Doula & Childbirth Educator (Jessica English, LCCE, FACCE, AdvCD/PCD/BDT)*
Breastfeeding for Doulas (Shonte’ Terhune-Smith, IBCLC, Midwife)
Childbearing Year Herbs for Midwives, Doulas & Birth Workers (Katia Lemone, MPH, CPM, Senior Midwife) - includes oils & aromatherapy
Biomechanics of Rebozo Techniques for Birth (Sophie Messager, PhD, Doula, DO, & Shellie Poulter, PhD, DiPhE); ongoing learning via Naoli Vinaver’s resource learning center (CPM, Traditional Mexican Midwife, MANA National Mexican Representative)
“Better Birth Pros” Body Ready Method (Lindsey McCoy, BD, CBE, ACSM-EP)
Trauma-Informed Care Training (OMA Pittsburgh)
Evidence on Breech Birth Training Webinar (Evidence Based Birth)
“TENS in the Toolbox” TENS for Labor Pain Relief (Sharon Muza, BS, CD/BDT, LCCE, FACCE, CLE)
Microbirth 2024 Virtual Conference - deep dive into the science, nature, and practice around the importance of the microbiome in birth
Certified Prenatal Massage Therapist (Institute of Somatic Therapy - ongoing training)**
Helping Babies Breathe | Essential Neo-Natal Resuscitation (American Academy of Pediatrics; Igi Osé Birth - Selena Eisenberg, traditional midwife)
* Please note: Doula Katharine is a fully trained, but intentionally uncertified doula. She has found that carrying an organizational certification requires the doula to ethically and practically align herself with the priorities of external power structures. Whether the doula-training group, the state, the medical system, or insurance providers, certification binds a doula to someone other than her client. For Katharine, the doula-client relationship must be without conflict of interest or alignment. She is deeply educated, but holds no certifications which require commitment to outside authority.
**Katharine’s massage credentials include the full training that Licensed Massage Therapists take to qualify as prenatal specialists. However, she is not an LMT. She is happy to recommend resources for full prenatal-certified LMTs as desired.
About Wellspring Birth
Wellspring Birth was inspired by the ancient cross-cultural mythos of the Three Mothers: wise women who cultivate the bubbling wellspring of life and knowledge, gathered at the roots of the great tree. In Judeo-Christian tradition, the tree of knowledge and holy water are present in the Garden of Eden; in the sacred healing wells of Mother Mary; in the Trinity; in Jesus crucifixion, and his gift of the Holy Spirit as living water. In ancient mythology such women are the life-weavers: the Norse Urðr (that which has been fertile), Verðandi (that which is becoming life), and Skuld (that which shall grow into being); the Greek Parcae, the Franco-Germanic and Roman Matronae; the triune primordial goddess, healers, Fates. They are the past, present and future of sovereign birth, of birthing in supported solidarity, of standing with grace at the threshold of life.
