About Sophia Tschida She/Her

"She has a natural ability to remain calm and collected and listen to your needs. We never felt that she judged us or our plans for our birth. She helped us think about things we weren’t preparing for and made space for our unique experience" - MT

ABOUT:

I am an experienced full spectrum doula, placenta encapsulation specialist and lactation student supporting birthing folks and their families transition through all pregnancy outcomes I have experience supporting all types of birth and postpartum experiences in hospitals, community birth centers, and in my clients homes. 

I work to elevate the voices of all birthing people and their diverse family structures. I provide culturally responsive and trauma sensitive emotional, physical and informational support families need to have a safe, autonomous, and empowering pregnancy, birth, and postpartum experience.

I am a compassionate guardian, advocate, and humble witness to my clients' experiences throughout their perinatal journey. I hold deep trust for my clients, and honor their  feelings, unique perspectives and values.

When I’m not supporting families in pregnancy, birth and postpartum, you can find me on the beach - grilling out with my freaky-goofy friends, exploring and camping, shucking oysters and dancing around the bonfire. I love to be comfy and luxuriate at the spa or in my bathrobe at home with some trashy tv. I’m super interested in textile/fiber arts and get really nerdy about traditional techniques and historic dress. I also have a hobby of  studying the earth-honoring traditions and folkways of my ancestors. I am deeply connected with the moon and the sea. I live on Bainbridge Island in a cozy farmhouse built in 1903 with my sweetie of a husband, Charlie, and our perfect angel baby dog Rosie. 

PHILOSOPHY:

I believe that Birth is an ancient, inherent, and normal process that human bodies and psyckes are fully capable of experiencing. I honor all births as sacred,  whether the birth unfolds spontaneously or with the aid of medical technologies. Whatever pathways my clients choose, however the process of birth unfolds for them, I believe that they deserve respect, dignity, validation, and love. Diverse cultural perspectives and lifestyles are deeply entwined with how we observe the ceremony of birth, and those perspectives should be honored and supported. It is your right as the birthing person to make the decisions about your body, your baby, and your birth and parenting journey from a place of feeling informed and championed, rather than a place of fear or coercion.

Our ancestors lived in villages where they were surrounded by and dependent upon other people. These communities included folks who held the knowledge and skills to support their families and neighbors cross through life’s many thresholds. We have been stripped of that resource by our global capitalist society and are now more isolated than ever. Our modern western culture tells us that the nuclear family is the ideal, and that we can and should be able to “do it all” and “bounce back” with little to no help and even less information about what is going on physically, emotionally and spiritually during the transition into new-parenthood. 

Doula work is a reclamation. It is the work of aunties, sisters, grandmothers and wise women/folks of old. Doulas hold and resource birthing people and their families as they exist within the liminal space between the before and the after of this life changing rite of passage 

JOURNEY TO DOULA WORK:

Birth work came into my life unexpectedly. It is a passion born of my own tumultuous journey into woman and person-hood.

In my early twenties I began participating in circle work with other women. Holding brave space for their stories and being able to share my own experiences within this type of intentional non-judgemental support system was and continues to be deeply healing. To participate in a community where it is okay to exist within the liminal spaces of transition, to show up with all the messiness of life and love and loss and everything in between - to hold ceremony and reverence for it is life changing and life saving. 

Circle work and birth work are one in the same. They are ancestral. They occupy the spaces in between, where the veil is thin and magic happens. Just like we bring intention and reverence to our circles, Birth is innately ceremonial. This work is a powerful way to disrupt and dismantle internalized capitalist patriarchal systems and oppressive institutions that we are indoctrinated into throughout our lives that keep us disempowered and disconnected. Circle work ignited a fire within me to continue and expand on this healing work of space holding. 

Then there was the lightbulb moment. 

In 2017 I had the honor of supporting my best friend as she labored and birthed her oldest son. It was also my very first birth. It was an incredibly powerful and illuminating experience. I stayed with my strong and radiant friend through her entire birthing process. I knew in my bones this was exactly where I needed to be, like I was born to do this work. I felt so natural and at ease in her birthing space - like I was tapping into a lineage of ancestral wisdom and strength and magic. I remember sitting up with her at 3am, the house dark, candles flickering, partner, doula and midwives all asleep. I sat on the bathroom floor  while she was in the bathtub and poured warm water over her back and belly. We didn’t talk. I just quietly sat, listening and watching. I listened to her deep groans and long slow breaths. I was fully present with her rawness in that moment. No fear, no anticipation. Just a soft loving presence. I remember thinking in those moments, “This is where you need to be.” Witnessing this incredible strength, power, beauty and softness in the dark quiet of the night.

After that, I attended my first Doula training at Bastyr University’s Simkin Center. The following month I attended the home-birth of my first official client. I had the lucky opportunity to work with my incredible mentor turned friend, Wilder Kruzan, which really helped me to gain confidence as a Doula- and after that I was off to the races. Doula work quickly snow-balled into my full time job.

I been a birth Doula for over 8 years in Kitsap county, and have attended over 200 births. In winter of 2023 I made the decision to take a break from attending births to be able to better focus on my health and my family. I am thrilled to continue to support families by offering pre and postnatal care as a postpartum doula, educator and facilitator.

 I am humbled and grateful to be able to do this work. To be trusted and welcomed by my amazing clients to witness and hold them is an absolute honor and privilege. I am committed to being a lifelong learner of the magic of liminality, the power of birthing folks, and the ceremony of birth, postpartum and beyond.  Doula work has shown me who I am, and it also has shown me how much work I have left to do.

WHY WOLF MOON?

The name “Wolf Moon” was inspired by the Greco-Roman Moon Goddess Diana or Artemis. Diana is a huntress, protector of wild lands and animals, women and girls. She is also a midwife goddess. She is usually depicted with a stag or dog as her companion, however I choose to see her running with the wolves. Wolves embody quiet strength and resilience. They are fierce, loyal, and loving mothers to their cubs.

I have always had a deep connection to my ancestors, specifically the lineage of women on my mother’s side. I recently found out more about that lineage - My mother’s family is descendent from an ancient Samnite tribe from the Apennine mountains of  southern Italy called the Hirpini, which is devired from the Oscan “Hirpus”, which translates to “Wolf." It is written that the Hirpini people were nomads, until the wolves of guided them to settle in that region. I am constantly finding out more and more about my deep connection to these powerful, beautiful animals.

Wolf Moon Doula came to fruition in January of 2017. The ancient name given to January’s full Moon and corresponding cycle by the Indigenous people of what is now the Northern United States is "Wolf Moon.” Wolf Moon Doula lives and works on the occupied ancestral Salish Coast Tribal Lands of the Suquamish, Duwamish, and Twana/Skokomish people. To them and to this land I express my gratitude. To find out what tribal territory you live on, visit: native-land.ca



EDUCATION:

  • DONA International Birth Doula Training at the Penny Simkin Center - Bastyr University, Kenmore, WA.

  • DONA International Certified Birth Doula.

  • Mentorship with Wilder Kruzan, Taproot Birth Partners

  • Childbirth International Birth Doula Training

  • Childbirth International Beyond Boundaries Retreat -Bali, Indonesia.

  • Placenta Encapsulation with Carrie Kenner of Big Belly Services - Seattle, WA.

  • Journey Through the Pelvis Workshop with Carrie Kenner of Big Belly Services - Seattle, WA.

  • Supporting Families in Grief Workshop with Carrie Kenner of Big Belly Services - Seattle, WA.

  • When Survivors Give Birth: Understanding and Healing the Effects of Early Sexual Abuse on Childbearing Women Training with Penny Simkin and Phyllis Klaus - Bastyr University, Kenmore, WA.

  • Spinning Babies Workshop with Tammy Ryan - Victoria, B.C.

  • Spinning Babies Workshop with Rachel Shapiro - Edmunds, WA.

  • Assistant; Childbirth Education Home and Birth Center 8 week Series with Penny Simkin, Center for Birth - Seattle, WA. 

  • Working with Clients Experiencing Addiction and Recovery - Swedish Hospital, Ballard, WA.

  • Events and outreach committee member for Peninsula Birth Network - Kitsap County, WA.

  • Operations Lead and Venue and Production Coordinator for Peninsula Birth and Baby Expo - Kitsap County, WA.

  • Swedish Hospital Doula Program, First Hill and Ballard Campus - Seattle, WA.  

  • Swedish Doula Program Leadership Committee - Seattle, WA.

  • Birth Assistant with Salt & Cedar Midwifery - Kitsap and Jefferson Counties, WA

  • Midwife Assistant Basic Training with Ashley Jones, LM - Port Orchard, WA 

  • Neonatal Resuscitation Program 7th Edition Credentialed Provider with American Academy of pediatrics - Silverdale, WA

  • GPS Facilitator Training with Perinatal Support Washington & Group Peer Support.

  • Teen Talking Circles Facilitator Training, 2024 cohort.

  • Kitsap Breastfeeding Coalition Scholorship recipient for the Breastfeeding Spcialist Certification Program with Lactation Education Resources.

  • Student with Katie Dunning, lactation specialist ands volunteer nurse.