Let me introduce myself…

Hi – I’m Amanda, and my pronouns are she/her. I’m a mom of three, currently living and working on the  ancestral, traditional, and unceded lands of the Coast Salish and Stó:lō Peoples, including the territories of the Kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Kwikwetl'em),  xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.

I‘ve always been drawn to the world of birth and babies (I remember being about ten, and telling everyone I wanted to be a neonatologist when I grew up – think Addison from Grey’s Anatomy), however it was my personal journey to parenthood that inspired my goal of being a full spectrum doula.  

I grew up in the middle of nowhere, Ontario, and I always wanted to escape to something bigger and more exciting. I moved away for university, followed by several years of living and working overseas.  

When I made my way back to Canada, I settled in Toronto, found a corporate job, and thought that I would find happiness as a typical, urban 20-something. After a while though, I realized that I was missing the connection to nature that I grew up with. I wanted to live simply, in touch with the earth, and to create a smaller footprint.  

I was lucky enough met someone who was also headed down that path, and we decided to embark on the journey together. Six years in, we have had many adventures and have changed directions a few times. We spent several years living on a sailboat on the Pacific coast. We spent the better part of a year traveling in the United States, visiting friends and family along the way. Now we have a small piece of land, and a tiny house in the BC interior. Each one of these has taught us a lot about living simply, and what we value most – family. 

Our journey to start a family came with a new set of challenges. We struggled with infertility, as a result of my PCOS. It took us a year and a half before we were able to successfully get pregnant (a short time in the world of infertility, but an eon when you want nothing more than a healthy baby). I was fortunate and had a mostly uneventful pregnancy, not counting emergency surgery at five weeks, and found that pregnancy served to make me feel grounded and connected to nature.  

Nothing brought me closer to our primal nature than the birth of our son in 2018. We were lucky enough to have a wonderful doula supporting us throughout the labour and birth, which helped replace “village” that we, like many people these days, were lacking. When our daughter was born in the spring of 2020, we were in the early stages of a pandemic. Fears were running high, and our doula wasn’t allowed to accompany us for the birth. While both births were joyous in their own ways, I realized just how important of a role a doula can play. I’ve always been drawn to taking care of others, and it suddenly became clear that supporting families as they grow was the path I should be on. 

That’s what These Green Roots is about. Helping people establish a strong foundation for starting a family. Embracing our connectedness, and nurturing our communities. Most importantly, reclaiming the traditions of supporting each other through the monumental journey of parenthood, regardless of what that journey looks like.  

Serving Burnaby, New Westminster, Coquitlam, Metro Vancouver and surrounding areas in person, and providing virtual support worldwide.