Virginia Beach based black birth doula supporting healthy beginnings!
About me
I am so excited to support you and your family!
Welcome to Your Doula in Love!
I am the owner and creator of Your Doula in Love. My name is Julie Roberson. I am a mother of three to Liam, Olivia and Karmelo, wife to my husband Kermit. We are living in Virginia Beach which happens to also be my hometown! My husband and I originally met in high school and reconnected years later. We had our first child together about a year after getting married and I had Liam from a prior relationship and Melo was our cherry on top! I love Starbucks, spending quality time with family, spending time nature, eating good food, and traveling!
I am passionate in supporting the families that are nurturing life and entering into a new phase of their lives. I am passionate about advocating for what a person wants and envisions for their birth experience and baby. I am passionate about pregnancy and infant loss awareness. I want to bridge the disconnect in the lack of care and support for parents that have to experience the tragedy of losing their baby. The rate of stillbirth for non-Hispanic black women is more than twice the rate of non-Hispanic white women, followed by American Indian and Hispanic women. As a black woman myself, this statistic is alarming. Utilizing a doula in the third trimester can decrease chances of stillbirth by 30%. I know that I can make a difference to decrease that rate through supporting parents trying to conceive, during pregnancy, labor and deliver.
I will share that my advocacy for pregnancy and infant loss awareness started from experiencing the loss of my son. My son Liam and I were only given 5 wonderful months to learn and grow together. My son passed away suddenly while I was at work. The entire ordeal from a vague phone call to a panicked arrival to the emergency room was handled poorly and without care or compassion. I was completely unsupported and the words from the doctors were delivered coldly. I was Baker Acted, drugged against my will, and I had no voice. Once I was cleared to leave by a psychiatrist I left the hospital with a few pamphlets and a bottle of Xanax. Just the day before life was meaningful and beautiful and then I was left with nothing but empty arms, a broken heart and lifelong grief and trauma.
In the years after this happened I found that other mothers and fathers would reach out to me for support when dealing with a loss, threatened loss, and more often a pregnancy after a loss. I also realized the lack of support for bereaved parents was more common that I thought. When COVID-19 rocked our world it gave me a chance to step away from my career and focus on something I was passionate about and find a way to make that into a business so that I would feel fulfilled in the work I was doing. Through staying active in an amazing local non profit called Kennedys Angel Gowns I got my first training and certification paid for by a grant the nonprofit was awarded. This organization has held me and supported me since relocating back to Virginia.
No parent should have to go through what I did when dealing with the loss of a pregnancy or infant. I will be your support, your advocate, your childcare, housekeeper, friend, chef and whatever else you may need to feel supported and loved through loss. I will be your support, masseuse, friend to vent to, hand to squeeze and much more through trying to conceive, pregnancy, labor and birth, postpartum, and bereavement.
I am a certified perinatal specialist, community doula and community health worker through Urban Baby Beginnings, a VA state certified doula , as well as a certified sisters in loss full spectrum doula, and Certified Childbirth Educator through Childbirth International. I have had three live births and two losses myself and at this moment I have attended numerous births. I am certified for adults, children and infants CPR, healthcare provider, first aid, and blood-borne pathogens. I offer Bengkung belly binding, placenta encapsulation, placenta products and keepsakes, childbirth education and lactation support. I am constantly looking for continuing education through training, seminars, research and studies, webinars, podcasts and anything else that I can soak up and improve on. I believe that knowledge is unlimited and I will always have space to learn, enhance, and grow as a person and doula.
I will support, encourage and advocate for you and your family as Your Doula in Love.