Katrina Galbraith relocated to the Evanston/Chicago area about a year ago. She bought me cheese curds and chocolate cake (Thanks, Farmhouse!) so friendship was bound to happen. Katrina gladly shared with me about her birth offerings, and I hope that you'll check her out if you are looking for a postpartum doula or childbirth ed classes in the Chicago, Evanston, Skokie, and surrounding areas.
You can also find Katrina in the following places:
~ The upcoming Red Tent! The next one is August 12th.
~ Facebook: www.facebook.com/gracefulbirthandfamilies
~ Website: www.gracefulbirthandfamilies.com
~ Instagram: www.instagram.com/graceful_family
~ Mention this blog post and get 20% off any one service!
You can also find Katrina in the following places:
~ The upcoming Red Tent! The next one is August 12th.
~ Facebook: www.facebook.com/gracefulbirthandfamilies
~ Website: www.gracefulbirthandfamilies.com
~ Instagram: www.instagram.com/graceful_family
~ Mention this blog post and get 20% off any one service!
Hello there! First things first. Who is Katrina Galbraith?
I am a certified HypnoBirthing® International practitioner/childbirth educator, postpartum doula and NEWLY a birth doula-in-training! I also plan Mother Blessings and Women’s Red Tent gatherings; and am working toward a Breastfeeding Educator certification. I have backgrounds in business, including degrees in Economics, International Business, and Human Resource Management; and in education as a Teach for America Corps Member in Houston’s refugee neighborhood schools.
I am a mother to two wild and lovable boys. I live in Skokie, IL aka Chicagoland; but have lived in Utah, Houston, and Ecuador (sí, hablo Español). I love to laugh and I adore the outdoors. I have come to love all the quirky little traits that make me who I am. I make a mean meatball sandwich and chocolate chip cookies that’ll probably change your life. Music is a huge part of my life and my heart beats to Indie, Rock, 80s, Bachata, Louis Armstrong and Folksy stuff.
Also, I’m in love with the idea of everyone having support when they need it and a friend to share life with. To sum up me- someone recently put it like this, “you’re a thinker, a feeler, creator of joy; a happy wanderer enjoying the journey and finding beautiful distractions along the path”.
I am a mother to two wild and lovable boys. I live in Skokie, IL aka Chicagoland; but have lived in Utah, Houston, and Ecuador (sí, hablo Español). I love to laugh and I adore the outdoors. I have come to love all the quirky little traits that make me who I am. I make a mean meatball sandwich and chocolate chip cookies that’ll probably change your life. Music is a huge part of my life and my heart beats to Indie, Rock, 80s, Bachata, Louis Armstrong and Folksy stuff.
Also, I’m in love with the idea of everyone having support when they need it and a friend to share life with. To sum up me- someone recently put it like this, “you’re a thinker, a feeler, creator of joy; a happy wanderer enjoying the journey and finding beautiful distractions along the path”.
What was your introduction to birth work?
I guess my first intro to birth work was when I met a HypnoBirthing instructor that lived in my neighborhood. Happy coincidence! I was pregnant with my second child and looking to do things a little different than the first time around. She became a friend and guru of sorts. All of a sudden I learned what a midwife and doula are; learned about home birth, placenta encapsulation, evidenced based birthing choices, my rights as a birthing woman and how to claim those rights, what an IBCLC is and how amazing they are and on and on. I was a sponge to every new thing. And best of all I felt free to decide for myself what I did and did not want to embrace. Knowledge became an addicting power. All of this combined to be the catalyst for me having the most transformative and transcendent birth experience- everything I had imagined it could be. It consumed me. All women should be allowed (who’s allowing anyway??) to know and then make decisions for themselves. It was only natural that I begin by becoming certified to teach and inspire others the way I had been and the rest is history.
Tell us a little bit about your offerings and your approach to your clients.
Current offerings at Graceful Birth & Families:
-Comprehensive HypnoBirthing Childbirth Education (group and private series)
-Postpartum Doula Support
-Mother Blessing planning/officiating services
-Birth Doula Support (as part of my path to certification)
-Breastfeeding Education (also part of my current training process)
My approach:
Every pregnant person, each family, has its own needs and desires. My approach is to listen, educate, empathize, and then empower. My goal is always to work myself out of a job so that each client can take the reins and never need me again. This whole process is not about educators, doulas, care providers; it’s about babies and their families. Hands down- respect for where they are coming from and where they are going.
-Comprehensive HypnoBirthing Childbirth Education (group and private series)
-Postpartum Doula Support
-Mother Blessing planning/officiating services
-Birth Doula Support (as part of my path to certification)
-Breastfeeding Education (also part of my current training process)
My approach:
Every pregnant person, each family, has its own needs and desires. My approach is to listen, educate, empathize, and then empower. My goal is always to work myself out of a job so that each client can take the reins and never need me again. This whole process is not about educators, doulas, care providers; it’s about babies and their families. Hands down- respect for where they are coming from and where they are going.
When a pregnant woman finds her way to you, what are some things that she's looking for help with?
Good question! There can be so many things! Sometimes moms are looking for a way to heal and find strength and positivity to press forward. Sometimes, very enlightened parents know just what they want from birth and postpartum but know that our societal systems don’t effortlessly support that.
Expectant families taking HypnoBirthing are looking for pregnancy and labor comfort measures, to empower partners, familial connection in the process. Sometimes due to legitimate medical issues that arise they want to know how to use self-hypnosis and relaxation skills in their journey and add good decision making skills to prepare for whatever turn birthing may take. Some moms are just terrified of the whole process and don’t know where to start, this actually happens a lot, the fear of labor and a deep desire to overcome it.
Postpartum families are looking for an extra set of hands, emotional support, someone to facilitate rest and healing.
Women looking for Mother Blessing services want to connect to their own power, feel love and strength on their journey from Maiden to Mother (the first or seventh times). They are searching for something to ground them and a support system to hold space for them while they carry forward ultimately alone, but certainly not lonely.
Expectant families taking HypnoBirthing are looking for pregnancy and labor comfort measures, to empower partners, familial connection in the process. Sometimes due to legitimate medical issues that arise they want to know how to use self-hypnosis and relaxation skills in their journey and add good decision making skills to prepare for whatever turn birthing may take. Some moms are just terrified of the whole process and don’t know where to start, this actually happens a lot, the fear of labor and a deep desire to overcome it.
Postpartum families are looking for an extra set of hands, emotional support, someone to facilitate rest and healing.
Women looking for Mother Blessing services want to connect to their own power, feel love and strength on their journey from Maiden to Mother (the first or seventh times). They are searching for something to ground them and a support system to hold space for them while they carry forward ultimately alone, but certainly not lonely.
What is unique about your approach to your work?
My experiences: I’ve lived both the trauma of unnecessary intervention and experienced the euphoria of a med-free, intervention-free, natural birth.
My belief: Birth is a normal function for healthy women and babies; our bodies are designed to do this. It is each woman’s inherent birthright to be made to feel like a goddess warrior in change of her own path and destiny. Couple that with unwavering support from caring experts and you’ve got a great thing going
My mold-ability: I want the key players to be the families. I want to be invisible.
My intuition: I am an empath. With this gift of discernment, I can read a room, and person’s emotions, the unspoken and the unseen. And I know that each person—we’re not just crossing paths for a moment but our interactions will leave an imprint. Birth changes people. Forever. And I approach everything thing I do with this most present in my mind.
My belief: Birth is a normal function for healthy women and babies; our bodies are designed to do this. It is each woman’s inherent birthright to be made to feel like a goddess warrior in change of her own path and destiny. Couple that with unwavering support from caring experts and you’ve got a great thing going
My mold-ability: I want the key players to be the families. I want to be invisible.
My intuition: I am an empath. With this gift of discernment, I can read a room, and person’s emotions, the unspoken and the unseen. And I know that each person—we’re not just crossing paths for a moment but our interactions will leave an imprint. Birth changes people. Forever. And I approach everything thing I do with this most present in my mind.
What kind of outcomes do your clients see after working with you?
The evidence of childbirth education and doulas is clear:
-Less unnecessary interventions (epidurals, Pitocin, inductions, c-sections)
-Less PPMDs (perinatal and postpartum mood disorders, like postpartum depression)
-Less instances of regret about birth outcomes
-More empowered, knowledgeable, and overall happier with their providers
From Mother’s Blessings moms are more connected, infused with energy and positivity, and supported by her loved ones. Moms and their families have both a clear vision and the tools to carry it out.
-Less unnecessary interventions (epidurals, Pitocin, inductions, c-sections)
-Less PPMDs (perinatal and postpartum mood disorders, like postpartum depression)
-Less instances of regret about birth outcomes
-More empowered, knowledgeable, and overall happier with their providers
From Mother’s Blessings moms are more connected, infused with energy and positivity, and supported by her loved ones. Moms and their families have both a clear vision and the tools to carry it out.
How do you see your practice growing to serve pregnant and postpartum women five years from now?
My goal is to become a clinical hypnotherapist and holistic family psychotherapist. That will not happen in five years from now, nope, no way. Haha. But on my way to that goal, I will have completed my birth doula training and started supporting more women during birth, not just before and after. I would like to think that in ten years from now I’ll have started my degree path and be researching postpartum care and maternal mental health issues inherent in the systemic failures in our society. BUT, in the next year, you’ll see me expanding Graceful Birth & Families to include birth services, breastfeeding education, hosting more Red Tent groups and more Mothers Blessing services.
What's something that you wish you could tell every woman on the brink of experiencing pregnancy and childbirth?
All the words! Things are going to be so, so amazing! That knowledge is power. This will be/can be your greatest achievement; a whole rebirth of you. You already have everything you need inside of you. In your labor experience, it will matter a lot how you were made to feel, maybe even more than the outcome or little details. It can inspire you to do and accomplish anything or crush your very self-worth. Educate yourself- own your experience. You will remember these moments forever. It can be and was meant to be so powerful, so good, so sacred. You deserve respect and support. It’ll take preparation and dedication, and you and your baby are worth it.
What's a favorite quote or song or book that inspires you?
Quotes I will always love:
“Change the way you view birth and the way you birth will change.” –Marie Mongan
“Giving birth should be your greatest achievement, not your greatest fear.” –Jane Weideman
“A woman in birth is at once at her most powerful, and her most vulnerable. But any woman who has birthed unhindered understands that we are stronger than we know.” –Marci Macari
My favorite birth book right now is The Gift of Giving Life by Austin, Allgood, Axman, Farrell, and Ripley (no, they are not a law firm, but rather the most amazing group of women you may ever meet!)
Ok tied for current favorite is The First Forty Days: The Essential Art of Nourishing the New Mother by Heng Ou. It’s an amazing resource for nourishing your soul (and your body) for moms.
“Change the way you view birth and the way you birth will change.” –Marie Mongan
“Giving birth should be your greatest achievement, not your greatest fear.” –Jane Weideman
“A woman in birth is at once at her most powerful, and her most vulnerable. But any woman who has birthed unhindered understands that we are stronger than we know.” –Marci Macari
My favorite birth book right now is The Gift of Giving Life by Austin, Allgood, Axman, Farrell, and Ripley (no, they are not a law firm, but rather the most amazing group of women you may ever meet!)
Ok tied for current favorite is The First Forty Days: The Essential Art of Nourishing the New Mother by Heng Ou. It’s an amazing resource for nourishing your soul (and your body) for moms.
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