Today we’d like to introduce you to Mary Piasecki.
Hi Mary, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I never really set out with a plan to become a birth doula. Honestly, birth work found me through my own experiences becoming a mom.
My first birth didn’t go the way I had hoped. I planned a home birth and ultimately transferred to the hospital and had a C-section. That experience completely changed the way I viewed birth, support, and how much it matters to feel heard and cared for when plans change. My second birth was an HBAC (home birth after cesarean), followed by a postpartum hospital transfer, and my third was a planned hospital induction with an epidural. Between the three, I’ve experienced birth going in very different directions—which has shaped the kind of doula I am today.
I began working as a doula in 2018, and what started as a passion quickly became something much bigger than I expected. Since then, I’ve had the privilege of supporting well over 100 families through births ranging from peaceful and straightforward to long inductions, VBACs, epidurals, unmedicated births, home births, C-sections, and plenty of unexpected changes of plan.
Along the way, I’ve continued my education through Stillbirthday, Spinning Babies, Bundle Birth, The VBAC Link, Evidence Based Birth, and other trainings. I also co-founded Christian Doulas & Birth Workers of Michigan as a way to connect and encourage other birth workers across the state.
Today, my approach to birth is probably best summed up as rest, movement, and balance. I’m not there to make someone have a certain kind of birth. I’m there to help families understand their options, feel confident making decisions, and have steady support when birth inevitably asks them to pivot.
Nearly a decade into this work, I still genuinely believe birth matters—not because it has to look a certain way, but because women deserve to walk away from it knowing they were supported, respected, and never alone.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Definitely not. Birth work is beautiful, but it can also be incredibly unpredictable and demanding.
One of the biggest struggles has been learning how to balance being a doula with being a wife and mom. Babies don’t care what’s on your calendar. I’ve left birthday parties, missed nights of sleep, rearranged family plans, and spent long stretches away from home supporting families. As my own kids have gotten older, I’ve had to continually reevaluate what I want this work to look like and how much of myself I can realistically give to it.
There’s also an emotional weight to birth work that I don’t think I fully understood when I started. I’ve supported beautiful, uncomplicated births, but I’ve also walked alongside families through unexpected C-sections, difficult diagnoses, NICU stays, loss, and births where everything changed very quickly. Learning how to be fully present for someone else while also processing those experiences myself has been a huge part of growing as a doula.
And then there’s the business side! I started because I loved birth—not because I knew anything about running a business. Learning marketing, websites, contracts, boundaries, pricing, being on-call, and figuring out how to build something sustainable has been a lot of trial and error.
But I think the harder parts have actually made me better at what I do. I’m much less attached to the idea of a “perfect birth” than I was when I started. Birth can be beautiful and empowering and still not go according to plan. My job isn’t to control the outcome—it’s to make sure my clients feel supported and cared for through whatever their story becomes.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’ve been a birth doula since 2018 and have supported more than 130 births. I especially love working with second-time moms, VBACs, inductions, and moms who are anxious about birth.
I think what sets me apart is that I don’t have an agenda for what a “good” birth should look like. I’ve personally had a home birth transfer that ended in a C-section, an HBAC with a postpartum transfer, and a hospital induction with an epidural—so I really do get that birth can take a lot of different paths.
I’m probably most known for being practical, calm, and honest. My approach is Rest. Movement. Balance. We work with the birth that’s actually happening, not just the one we planned for.
I’m most proud that so many families have trusted me with such an important day—and especially when they call me back for baby #2 or #3. That never gets old.
What matters most to you? Why?
My faith and my family matter most to me. They’re the foundation for everything else I do. I want to do work that matters and serve people well, but I never want success in business to come at the expense of the people waiting for me at home.
That carries into my birth work too. Every mom I support is someone’s whole world, and it’s an honor to be trusted with such an important moment in their family’s story.
Pricing:
- $1600
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Marykeithpiasecki.com
