Meet Kiarra Galvez | Certified Holistic Doula

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kiarra Galvez and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kiarra, how did you come up with the idea for your business?
Like many other birth workers, my own experiences pushed me to learn more and eventually, start my own business. My first birth, like many, I wanted to be as natural and peaceful as possible, though we had just moved to an area with little to no support in the home-birthing network and we felt like birthing in the hospital was our only option. We prepared as much as we could, with birth plans and childbirthing classes but in the beginning throws of a nationwide pandemic, we were left with just ourselves and our nursing team.

We labored as long as we could at home, and once we finally arrived at the hospital, I was at a whopping 8 centimeters. We were told we could get into the birthing tub to labor and wait for the delivering doctor to arrive. I was helped into the water and peacefully labored with my husband next to me and my parents on Facetime, encouraging me every way. I soon felt a big shift in contractions and knew baby was going to be making their appearance, so I instructed my husband to call the nurses in. I would later come to find out that this urgent feeling of baby needing to come out is the body’s way of protecting baby and referred to as the Fetal Eject Reflex or FER. The nurse entered the room in a rush, exclaimed that the doctor wasn’t here yet and then proceeded to physically hold my knees together until the powerful contraction passed. She then demanded that we needed to get a cervical check to see how far along I was dilated while we waited for the doctor. I had requested little to no cervical checks in my birth plan, but in the throws of labor, all of this became hard to keep up. She checked my cervix, then “allowed” me to get back into the bath – this cycle repeated three times before the doctor arrived.

By the time she (the doctor) arrived, I was ready to give birth but I had developed a “severe cervical lip” and baby was “sunnyside up” and facing the wrong direction. Every woman develops a cervical lip in labor, but given the time to relax, it goes away to allow baby to be born. Because of the stress that was put on my body by the nurse holding my knees together, I would need manual help to move the cervical lip around baby. She said she was trained to manually maneuver the cervical lip around baby’s head, hoping to allow baby the room she needed to make her grand entrance. This maneuver required her to stick her hand up my vagina to physically grab and move the cervical lip. I allowed her to attempt this three times before the pain was so agonizing I screamed for her to get her hands off of me. But because she was not able to maneuver the cervical lip around baby’s head, I would need to have a cesarean section. This was not in our birth plan and definitely was not ideal, but we wanted everyone safe and alive and were willing to do whatever we needed to (or thought we needed to).

Preparing for the surgery, the anesthesiologist misplaced the epidural in my spine and had to re-jab, causing a slow spinal fluid leak and ultimately, a spinal headache every time I sat up. This happens to 1 in 5 people who receive an epidural. Though it is fixed with a simple blood patch outpatient procedure, if it is not fixed, it could be fatal. The surgery went on with flying colors, baby came, we breastfed, I peed and pooped, and we were given the “go ahead” to go home! When I was getting discharged, I tried getting up from the bed and was not able to walk or talk on my own as my vision was completely blacked out from the pain in my head – the nursing team told me “headaches are normal after birth” and physically loaded me into a wheelchair, into the car, and on our way. I spent five days in total darkness, trying to figure out what was wrong. I spent five days in pain, in tears, trying to feed my baby and learn how to be a mother. Every day, I would call the nursing team and let them know what was wrong and for five days, I was met with “it’s normal”. Tired of seeing me in agonizing pain right before his eyes, my husband called the doctor who delivered our baby and demanded we be seen because something wasn’t right. He told her everything and she said she would meet us at the hospital in 10 minutes. We then learn that the nursing team did not make my doctor aware of my concerns, but that she knew immediately what was wrong based on my symptoms and could fix us up immediately. They did the blood patch procedure, and I was up and out in a total of 15 minutes. I was absolutely shocked; I suffered for 5 days straight feeling like I was dying and I couldn’t provide for my new baby… and it took one phone call from my white-presenting husband to be taken seriously?

As a Black woman navigating the American healthcare system, I experienced firsthand being denied healthcare services and my symptoms being ignored because of my race and I never wanted another person to feel as lost and alone as I felt in those moments. Hearing of others who experienced this in childbirth and learning the statistics pushed me to want to make a change:

Kira Johnson. Felicia West. Tahmesha Dickey. Lashonda Hazard. Crystle Galloway. Erica Garner. Even big names like Serena Williams and Beyonce have experienced these unconscious biases geared towards Black women in childbirth.

Black women are five times more likely to suffer complications or die due to childbirth here in America. These statistics are unacceptable for a medically-developed country such as America, but alas they exist and are in no way the fault of these women. These statistics are combatted directly through access to resources and education, representation in professionals, and support to the birthing family! Yes, we can do it alone, we were literally made to be able to do it alone… but we also shouldn’t have to. Historically, cultures thrived as a village, even in raising children and birthing babies.

When a woman is confident, educated, and empowered to stand in her own and birth the way she desires versus the way she is told, she is effervescent; to be asked to walk alongside a woman in that journey and in love, light, and support is the highest honor.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Being the only Black doula and actively fighting racial diversity in healthcare in an area that is very transient and Caucasian has been the biggest hurdle I have had coming up in the business, but it has also elevated my self and services to clientele so they know what they are getting from the beginning – a doula that always has a smile and a hug ready for them and who is willing to stand til the end for them, even if that includes standing in front of a door so they can get a few minutes of privacy!

When I was starting out, it worried me how vocal I was about racial diversities in America, and especially in small-town Colorado and how it would affect client volume, and I learned that how vocal and confident I was actually made families want to birth with me more despite their ethnicity, because they felt I would “give it to them straight” and prepare them to the utmost of my ability! I’ve learned that not making myself small in spaces will get me where I want and need to be, and that’s for all of life! I may be loud, I may take up space, and a lot of people may not agree with me… but if they choose to not work with me based off of any of those, that just means they weren’t the right client for me. As a professional, especially with spirit work, you do not want to walk with ill intentions; you don’t want to carry negative energy with you because that negative energy can affect the sacred space of another.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Being in Eagle County, Colorado means that we are a ways from the city, but a hop, skip, and a jump to some of the best Colorado sweet spots! Some of my favorite include Craftsman Brewing in Edwards, Colorado for their arugula and bleu cheese salad and Shmitt Mac Burger with an in-house brewed beer, then head across the street to Sundae’s for some yummy slow-churned local ice cream! The Farmer’s Market in Edwards, CO every Wednesday has some of the best local foods and finds! The Eagle County Fair and Rodeo in the summer is a local hotspot every Friday! We would visit Vail Village and walk along the cobblestone, exploring the little shops and boutiques before heading down valley to Moe’s Original BBQ in Eagle, Colorado for some yummy ribs and mac and local hangout time (this is the original location of 50+ nationwide stores)! Other great spots in Eagle County include Pickled. Deli, Pickup’s Pizza, and Main Street Grill. I would make sure we travel through Glenwood Canyon to Glenwood Springs and hit the hot springs and pool for a day of relaxation before stopping at Vicco’s for some wholesome drive-in charbroiled burgers and milkshakes. And of course, you can’t miss out on all the great hikes in the area: Sylvan Lake, Mount Holy Cross, Hanging Lake, Berry Creek, the Gypsum Ponds, summer season hiking in Eagle is what drew us to the area when we first moved to Colorado seven years ago!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to dedicate this shoutout to my daughters – who teach me the joy of life and the magnitude of love every day. I strive to teach them to be better and do better in all things, to never stop seeking knowledge, and to never stop chasing their dreams and I hope that I continue to show that to them in every movement I make in life.

Website: https://babymoonbirthing.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/babymoonbirthing/

Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/doulakiarra

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/babymooncolorado/