A Love Story Doula Services

​My Journey to Becoming a Doula

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My name is Danielle Russell, I married Jeff, the love of my life in 2009. Together we have 8 children,  5 girls at home and 1 boy and 2 girls in Heaven. I suffered my first loss August 13th 2009, when I lost my first and only son, Isaac. I suffered two early miscarriages within 6 months after the loss of Isaac. After my losses I felt lead  into the loss community, that is when I realized that I wasn't alone. There are so many families grieving the loss of their children. About a year after I lost Isaac I was pregnant with my rainbow baby, and my best friend was pregnant with her first, a baby boy! We spent almost every day together and made so many plans for our babies! About two months before my rainbow was born, my friends mother called me to tell me that she had lost her baby, she was 31 weeks and 9 weeks ahead of me. My heart was shattered for her, I never wanted anyone to feel that pain ever again. After I lost Isaac, I wished that Isaac was the last baby to die, and for it to happen to her seemed so unfair. The loss of her sweet boy gave me even more motivation to make a difference in this community.  I read a study that said a baby is born still every 12 minutes in the United States alone, and 1 in 4 pregnancies will end in loss, another said it is closer to 1 in 3. Those numbers don't seem right, babies are not suppose to die. I wanted to help, I wanted to make a difference, I needed to do something, but I didn't know what I could do. I make candles, so I donated candles to go into packages for mothers who had suffered losses, and tried to help out in other areas where I could. That just wasn't filling my need to serve others, so in January 2017 I opened Good Mourning Bears Inc., a non-profit that makes "Packages of Love" for bereaved families. This gives grieving families something tangible to hold onto and to cherish in memory of their sweet babies. We were going to only serve the US, but the need is so much greater than that. So, we have shipped packages all over the globe, including Australia, South Africa, Canada, Scotland, all over the UK and 43 States. I realized that this community was so much bigger than I can even begin to comprehend.  In speaking to some of my fellow loss mom's that I met though this amazing community, I kept hearing the word "Doula", so I looked into becoming a Doula, I realized that it was the path I was meant to follow. So, April 4, 2017 I started my training at Stillbirthday.

After loosing my son my heart was shattered and I saw no light. Because of Isaac I have met so many amazing people and had so many doors open, including becoming a Doula. I am heartbroken that pregnancy and infant loss support is something that has such a profound need, but it is my hope that I can help a newly bereaved mother feel love, comfort and know that she is never alone.