About Kate
Hi! My name is Kate Whiting, founder of KW Doula Collective.
I was born and raised in Des Moines Iowa, and I live here currently with my husband Nick & our two Australian Shepherds, Winnie & Leo. I am so inspired by Doula work and what they do for some of the most at risk people in our society.
MY PASSION
Anyone who knows me knows, I have been a Doula at heart my whole life. My passion for caring for others, I believe, truly comes from my soul. My interest in pregnancy, labor, postpartum however, comes from my sister-in-law Jena. She was pregnant and raising her babies during the entirety of my childhood, their first child was born when I was only a toddler.
I remember being enamored with the fact that a whole human grew inside her body, she gave birth, and now here she is with a baby as if it wasn’t the most insane and amazing feat I had ever been privy to. At first it was about the baby & how cute and sweet he was but as I grew other and the babies kept coming, it become more & more about my deep interest & compassion for Jena’s birthing experiences, her recovery from being pregnant, and what it was like to be able to breast feed her children.
This eventually grew into a complete fascination into the science of gestation, birth, and the postpartum period. As I dove into the science of it all I learned that birthing environments are widely impacted by race, socioeconomic status, and the fact that most people who give birth are women. Birthing environments as they stand are not equitable across all demographics, and not even fully equitable for those with privilege. Which in my opinion, is absolutely unacceptable.
MY GOALS
My main goal as a Doula are to widely enhance the birthing experiences of the people in my community. I want people to know that the “standard of care” doesn’t have to be the level of care they receive just because its “standard”. I want my clients to know that wanting to improve your experience during birth, is absolutely not too much to ask for and bottom line it’s what they deserve.
Lover of music, her two dogs, and being with the people who make her feel most like herself.
“Let’s approach your birth as an opportunity to have an adventure on the way to meet your baby, rather than an ordeal to be endured.”