RUSSELLVILLE — Sarah Aspel of Russellville has taken what she describes as “a very intricate path” to her career choice.
Aspel is both a birth and postpartum doula. And while it took her a number of years to navigate that path, her destination, once reached, made perfect sense for Aspel.
“It’s not a big surprise that I ended up with a career where I am coaching women through the most important time of their life,” Aspel said. She is the daughter of Tom Aspel, Arkansas Tech University’s longtime women’s cross-country coach.
“I grew up watching my dad educate women about something totally different, but when I found my niche for knowledge and how much I really liked the study of hormones and reproductive systems and babies, it inspired me to look into how I could help teach mothers how to communicate and feel great about their birth experience.”
The mother of two sons, ages 8 and 6, Aspel recalled her own birth experiences as important steps on her career path.
“The first one, I just did kind of ‘whatever’ and quickly realized there is a lot more to being a parent than just having a baby and going home. It was difficult, at best,” she said.
Her second child was born on a military base in Washington state.
“That was where I was introduced to a variety of knowledge. They had a team of midwives, and they had OBs as well. So I got to learn there are other options. A lot of my friends did not get that chance, and I think that every woman deserves to know that there are options.”
From 2006-12, Aspel was a stay-at-home mother, but as her sons got older, she began looking in earnest toward career options.
She considered both midwifery and nursing, “but neither one of those was ideal for a woman with young children,” she said. “As any nurse will tell you, trying to have a life and trying to go through nursing school is not easy. I needed something that worked well with my life, so I waited, and when my kids were big enough, I was able to do this training.”
Her training, which was nonmedical, began with some local training, before adding to that knowledge with the nationally recognized agencies Dona International and ProDoula. She now works as a contractor for Riverfront Doulas.
Aspel said the origin of the word “doula” is “woman servant,” and in decades past, those roles were typically filled by family, grandmothers many times, who would often help during the birth process and in the days and weeks following birth. But that type of support system is not always in place today in many homes, she said. She said doulas provide that support, which is strictly based upon the needs of the mother and not Aspel’s own notion of how things should be done.
The training she received as a doula, she explained, stressed nonbiased communication with clients.
Simply put, Aspel said, “that means that all of my birthing philosophies that I hold personally don’t come out in the session. We don’t advocate. I’m not going in there to stop the doctors from doing anything. In fact, I would encourage the mom, if she has a difference of opinion, to say that to the doctor so we can open the lines of communication.”
Keeping those lines of communication open offers, she said, “a gentle reminder to everybody involved that the mother is the center of attention, and we need to respect her.”
Making sure that happens will mean a win-win situation for everyone involved, Aspel said. Using Saint Mary’s Regional Medical Center in Russellville as an example, which she referred to as “my hospital,” Aspel said, “Honestly, I hope that every person who takes me to Saint Mary’s comes back from that birth saying they loved Saint Mary’s because they also had a doula who opened those lines of communication.”
As both a birth doula and postpartum doula, Aspel can support a mother through the entire birth process and afterward, as well.
She has been contacted by several women interested in the training, and Aspel said her plan is to eventually have a team of doulas working in the Russellville area.
In the meantime, she stays busy with a job at a local health-food store, which she said provides her with additional knowledge she can pass along to her clients.
Aspel also has a breast-feeding support group, Mommy Milkies, on Facebook.
She started the support group in 2012, “mainly just for me and my friends, but it just grew. As my training grew, people would ask questions, and I had answers, and before you know it, you have 350 people following you.”
The followers are mostly local families who talk to each other through the group, and Aspel provides links to information related to breast-feeding.
“It is a very good support group. We have very little drama,” she said.
“And not everybody breast-feeds in there. Some supplement with formula; some bottle-feed. It is open to anyone, and there is good discussion among the group members.”
The members include people from all over the United States who have found her group, but the majority are local residents who were already familiar with Aspel.
A 2004 graduate of Russellville High School, Aspel attended Arkansas Tech in Russellville for a time before getting married and having children. She had intended to return to school but said she “had trouble finding the right fit” in terms of a career path. But her career choice as a doula, Aspel said, has indeed been the right fit for her.
“This has really allowed me to follow that passion,” she said.