About Jen
Hi all!
Jen Walts, here. I’m a Certified Birth Doula & HypnoBirthing® Childbirth Educator. As the owner of Wind & Water Doula Care, I’m so grateful to be serving families in Western Mass & beyond. I was born in Springfield, raised in Western Massachusetts, and after living on Cape Cod for 6 years, my partner and I returned to the area before welcoming our little one at Seven Sisters Midwifery & Community Birth Center in Florence, MA.
With 10+ years of teaching experience, and a Masters of Arts in Teaching from Quinnipiac University, I pivoted smoothly & dove deeply into the birth world where I empower families to navigate all things perinatal. I’ve developed private childbirth education curriculum, and I’m regularly offering HypnoBirthing® as an officially certified childbirth educator.
Choosing either of these childbirth education options means LIVE in person or virtual learning with a top notch program and teaching skills that are bound to make the experience engaging, organized, and well worth your time.
I’m a certified yoga instructor and well-practiced in guiding individual and group meditation. I completed my certificate in Montessori’s Early Childhood program, and I have a great passion for child development and conscious parenting. Breath, movement, presence, and witnessing all that ebbs and flows have been at the core of my pregnancies, partnership, parenting, birth work, life, and continued learning.
Through my work as a certified birth doula, I provide compassionate, evidence-based care, while supporting families in hospitals, birth centers, or home births, regardless of your birth preferences.
I am particularly passionate about all families receiving:
1) quality childbirth education/ having access to an educational offering beyond the hospital setting, and
2) guidance during their prenatal preparations that empowers and alleviates layers of engrained fear & anxiety.
HOW I SUPPORT: I focus on honoring, witnessing, and providing full presence during a life-altering transformation for your family. I’m a firm believer that the birther’s brain, baby’s position in utero, and your family’s choice of birth team will impact your birth outcome. We work to strengthen your understanding of which of the aforementioned elements need more energy and attention. I use a trauma-informed, empathic approach to support you. I ask you a lot of questions to encourage deep reflection as you sharpen your understanding of what core values your family would like present in the birth space. I provide evidence-based information, practices, and techniques to help support your family’s decision-making from your prenatal to your postpartum journey. I even believe, with the right support and resources, labor & birth can be healing. I will encourage clients to have active & open communication with their providers and birth team to make informed decisions, and I believe in the birther’s voice centering the experience.
WHO I SUPPORT: I support ALL types of desired birth experiences and outcomes. I believe in the birthing person’s body, and I also believe in modern medicine. I am proud to support all families with a variety of configurations, all cultural backgrounds, all religious preferences, BIPOC, and LGBTQIA+ community. As a white cisgender female, I am committed to learning more about policy change efforts in maternal healthcare. I will continue to explore ways in which racist and sexist policies and practices are deeply engrained in the healthcare system. I will be an advocate for social change which aims to dismantle the sexist and racist structures present within the current system. I will always be learning, and I am eager to continue to do this work.