Golden Passage
my philosophy
Through my own three experiences of pregnancy, a loss, the births of my two children, and the winding stretches of transformation through each postpartum time, I learned of the magic and power of this rite of passage. I stepped over a threshold and became the woman who was waiting for me on the other side — fuller, wiser, stronger, softer — more of who I was always meant to be. Born into new clarity. My eyes opened to life in a new way. A calling ignited in my heart.
To traverse the birthing continuum is an experience like no other — we are at our most powerful, intuitive, and receptive throughout this time. We are also at our most vulnerable. Thus, there emerge deeply positive impacts of having close, trusted people to lean on, to ask for guidance, to reflect a woman’s strength and inner knowing back to her. To hold her hand quietly, to breathe with her, to listen. To bring her healing food and drink, to offer loving touch, to know the needs of her body and tend them. The practice of women supporting women in childbearing stretches back for all of human history; it is something we have always done, and it remains a primal need. No matter how much the world changes, the blueprint of pregnancy, birth and postpartum is in our blood and bones, and women’s needs in this time are no different than they always were.
There is a common refrain that as long as there is a relatively healthy mom and baby after a birth, nothing else matters, and that the work is done, the need for care is complete. That the end is divorced from the journey somehow, and that the paths we walk bear no influence on our ultimate physical, emotional and spiritual wellness. But this isn’t true — the way our births unfold matters. The way we are supported in the postpartum time matters. These experiences create our sense of self, bring us to new realms of understanding, contribute to our feelings of wholeness and safety, and influence our physical and mental health outcomes and those of our children. Bringing forth life is perhaps the most consequential thing a woman will do in her lifetime if she chooses to — for her baby, for the world, and for her own emotional and spiritual evolution. Women deserve respect, autonomy, support, and the utmost care through this time.
As a doula, I am committed to serving mothers throughout the childbearing continuum so that they may experience it in its fullest possible expression, and on their own terms. Guided by the innate design of pregnancy, birth and postpartum and their specific support requirements, I provide personalized care so that mothers can move through each phase in strength and coherence, and emerge in thriving health on the other side.
Professional Qualifications
Certified Holistic Birth Doula — Whapio and the Matrona
Innate Postpartum Care (certification in process) — Rachelle Garcia Seliga, Innate Traditions
Trained with Guardians of Birth — Aya Maria Maldonado, Seed to Body Care
Family & Community Herbalist — Vermont Center for Integrative Herbalism
more about Monica
I am a mother to two young daughters and they are the joy of my life. I live with my family on a small homestead in the Green Mountains of Vermont, where we garden, play, craft, explore, relax and frolic in the meadows and forests. In addition to mother and wife, I wear many hats — herbalist, poet, artist, basket weaver, home keeper. I also co-direct Terrahana nature connection programs for children and youth with my husband. The Earth is my muse in all that I do. All of my energy, creativity, compassion, optimism, and hope comes from the beauty and power of the living world.
I love pregnancy, birth and the postpartum time. I am in awe of the powerful initiation that these three are — they humble me at the feet of Life. I have come to understand their enormous significance for women, their babies, and society as a whole, and it is an honor to be trusted in protecting and bearing witness to this passage.