These are two quotes that I live by:
"I can change the world with my own two hands" - Ben Harper
"Be the change you wish to see in the world" - Gandhi
Hi, my name is Erin Fisher-Pizzorno, CAPPA Certified Labor Doula and Postpartum Doula and trained as a Lactation Educator. I am forever grateful to have found my passion and feel blessed each day that I get to call this my "work," when in reality it is my joy.
When I was 18, holding my best friends hand as she gave birth to my "niece," crying with her, telling her to breathe, feeding her ice... I would have told you that you were crazy if you said I would be doing this on a regular basis. As years went on I dabbled in different courses through college, worked multiple jobs at once because I couldn't be productive unless I worked over 70 hours a week and I tried to find myself in every nook and cranny. I was certain I was going to own a restaurant while studying business management meanwhile I became a Registered Dental Assistant because I knew when I became pregnant someday I could still wear my scrubs. On the weekends I spent the morning managing the Front Desk of a popular Athletic club and by night I was the head hostess at a South Bay night club. I love to dabble and explore life, I love to master everything I do. Before the age of 21 I had been at the top of each position. Soon I realized I could have a restaurant without a degree in management but if I wanted to be a mom someday or maybe even a teacher I needed to learn about children, besides for years I had also been a nanny. (I am the queen of juggling and love being on my toes)
After nearly completing my degree, I changed to Child and Adolescent Development. I moved, left the boutique I opened with my mother and started working at a Children's Retail Boutique in Orange County, devoting myself to spending multiple hours in classrooms, where either I was learning or supporting learners. College came with an opportunity to teach English in China over a summer, since I have the travel bug and love kids it was a perfect match. Around this time my room mate got married, conceived and invited me to attend her birth. What a beautiful birth it was, calm, quiet, filled with love in the room, a doula and a midwife, a tub of water and a large bed where she and her husband welcomed their baby girl. Soon after she told me I should become a Doula... a what?!
The year that I graduated I was sent to China as the College Ambassador where I supervised and supported 25 undergrads and taught English in China again. When I returned state side I became a live in nanny in Hollywood as I tried to decide what was next and plotted to get my Masters Degree. I was asked in 2007 to attend a Conference in Brussels, Belgium to support International Service Learning, and since the travel bug was making me itch, I jumped my nannyship and traveled solo, couchsurfing Europe for 3 months.
Europe was amazing, a time of self discovery, conquering fears and reevaluating the value of life. I continued to work with families as a travel nanny and as a Teachers Assistant at a Montessori school. Within the relationships I built at the school I had the opportunity to visit Botswana and volunteer with children in a village, crying more the day I left those kids to come home than anytime I can remember in my life.
Somewhere in my head I kept hearing that "Doula" word. I still didn't understand it but I continued to look into it. Just as I was planning to get trained, my friend and former boss told me about a program she had heard of that was just starting and was to train doulas to volunteer in the community. Being the Community Service guru I am, thanks to my years with Rotary International, I knew at that moment this was meant to be. EUREKA! Immediately I applied and was accepted and what was supposed to be 20 weeks turned into a year and a half of weekly training in addition to many weekends and extra commitments.
I became a Community Based Doula, providing volunteer birth and postpartum services to teens and at risk women. I also received training through CAPPA as a Labor Birth Doula, Postpartum Doula and Lactation Educator. I enjoy everything about children and childbirth, Community Service, travel and photography. Anytime I can integrate those passions together is a bonus. It is great to know that my years of Business Management courses have come in handy as I started my Doula business and that my Bachelors Degree in Child and Adolescent Development was not achieved completely in vain.
So here I am, a Doula, and I wouldn't trade it for anything.
Much Love,
Erin
When I was 18, holding my best friends hand as she gave birth to my "niece," crying with her, telling her to breathe, feeding her ice... I would have told you that you were crazy if you said I would be doing this on a regular basis. As years went on I dabbled in different courses through college, worked multiple jobs at once because I couldn't be productive unless I worked over 70 hours a week and I tried to find myself in every nook and cranny. I was certain I was going to own a restaurant while studying business management meanwhile I became a Registered Dental Assistant because I knew when I became pregnant someday I could still wear my scrubs. On the weekends I spent the morning managing the Front Desk of a popular Athletic club and by night I was the head hostess at a South Bay night club. I love to dabble and explore life, I love to master everything I do. Before the age of 21 I had been at the top of each position. Soon I realized I could have a restaurant without a degree in management but if I wanted to be a mom someday or maybe even a teacher I needed to learn about children, besides for years I had also been a nanny. (I am the queen of juggling and love being on my toes)
After nearly completing my degree, I changed to Child and Adolescent Development. I moved, left the boutique I opened with my mother and started working at a Children's Retail Boutique in Orange County, devoting myself to spending multiple hours in classrooms, where either I was learning or supporting learners. College came with an opportunity to teach English in China over a summer, since I have the travel bug and love kids it was a perfect match. Around this time my room mate got married, conceived and invited me to attend her birth. What a beautiful birth it was, calm, quiet, filled with love in the room, a doula and a midwife, a tub of water and a large bed where she and her husband welcomed their baby girl. Soon after she told me I should become a Doula... a what?!
The year that I graduated I was sent to China as the College Ambassador where I supervised and supported 25 undergrads and taught English in China again. When I returned state side I became a live in nanny in Hollywood as I tried to decide what was next and plotted to get my Masters Degree. I was asked in 2007 to attend a Conference in Brussels, Belgium to support International Service Learning, and since the travel bug was making me itch, I jumped my nannyship and traveled solo, couchsurfing Europe for 3 months.
Europe was amazing, a time of self discovery, conquering fears and reevaluating the value of life. I continued to work with families as a travel nanny and as a Teachers Assistant at a Montessori school. Within the relationships I built at the school I had the opportunity to visit Botswana and volunteer with children in a village, crying more the day I left those kids to come home than anytime I can remember in my life.
Somewhere in my head I kept hearing that "Doula" word. I still didn't understand it but I continued to look into it. Just as I was planning to get trained, my friend and former boss told me about a program she had heard of that was just starting and was to train doulas to volunteer in the community. Being the Community Service guru I am, thanks to my years with Rotary International, I knew at that moment this was meant to be. EUREKA! Immediately I applied and was accepted and what was supposed to be 20 weeks turned into a year and a half of weekly training in addition to many weekends and extra commitments.
I became a Community Based Doula, providing volunteer birth and postpartum services to teens and at risk women. I also received training through CAPPA as a Labor Birth Doula, Postpartum Doula and Lactation Educator. I enjoy everything about children and childbirth, Community Service, travel and photography. Anytime I can integrate those passions together is a bonus. It is great to know that my years of Business Management courses have come in handy as I started my Doula business and that my Bachelors Degree in Child and Adolescent Development was not achieved completely in vain.
So here I am, a Doula, and I wouldn't trade it for anything.
Much Love,
Erin
