KILLEEN, Texas — Kimberly Wilson, a mother of three, launched Love Your Journey Doula Services in December and she said it stemmed from hardships she experienced during her pregnancies.
"I want everyone to really love your journey wherever it may take you and that's how it began," Wilson said.
Pregnancy and postpartum is different for every mother, according to Wilson and she said it's a big transition for families. Wilson said she wants to be there every step of the way and create a sense of calm.
"We provide labor support, postpartum, infant care training, sleep training overnight," Wilson said, "because sleep is essential for anyone whether you have a newborn or a toddler."
Wilson had only been in business for two months and then the pandemic hit. Since then, she said she's only been at a hospital once due to health guidelines.
"I'm getting more phone calls because they're nervous going into the hospital and they want to know what their options are," Wilson said.
Many people are experiencing hardships and some women are also dealing with the fears that come with pregnancy.
"One of their biggest concerns is, I can't afford a doula, so it's really being able to meet lower income families right now where they are with payment plans," Wilson said.
Knowing that mothers deal with a lot of stress, Wilson noticed that many are pushing their self-care aside during these uncertain times.
"I thought, how can I really help women during this time, and so I collaborated with women-owned businesses and we created a box called the self-care pamper box," Wilson said.
Her goal once the pandemic is over is to start her own agency to offer even more families the one-on-one support she believes they deserve.
"We're taught that you're supposed to have this glow and everyone is supposed to look very similar and that's not the case." Wilson said. "Everyone's journey really is unique and even you might have a difficult journey, you might have medical issues, but you still can love your journey."
Love Your Journey Doula Services website, click here.