Vanessa Lubresky
My name is Vanessa Lubresky and I am grateful beyond measure for the opportunity to help mothers of Birmingham walk through one of the most vulnerable and holy experiences of their life.
After learning what a doula was, I knew instantly in my heart that I wanted to pursue this path. There is no greater gift than to experience life being brought into this world. I learned this for myself after giving birth to my beautiful baby girl. It was an experience that imprinted on me forever, and tugged at my heart to propel me to want to help other women embrace the wild ride of childbirth that is both the most challenging thing you will ever put your body through yet the most beautiful.
My Story
I moved to Alabama from Hawaii in December of 2022 to give birth to my little girl at a midwifery center in Tennessee. The care and support I received was beyond anything I got during a doctor’s visit. In fact, I went to an OBGYN earlier in my pregnancy and was astonished to be in and out of there in 20 minutes, no one took the time to check in with me, let me ask questions or be heard. It was terribly rushed and I left feeling like just another number on their chart. I could not understand how they could treat the work of assisting pregnant woman through this tender time of their life with such indignity and disrespect. That experience definitely opened my eyes to what current problems pregnant women are being faced with today.
I didn’t realize what I was missing until I found an amazing doula who stayed by my side from halfway through my pregnancy to postpartum, who took her time to connect with me and genuinely cared about my wellbeing, especially on a deeper emotional level, which was what I was really needing. I realized more women need to know that this kind of care exists! Pregnancy is the biggest transition a women will go through in her life, not just physically but mentally and emotionally, and so much comes up to the surface, I think it is imperative to have proper care and a loving guide who you can call on for support.
I hope I can be that for you.
Apart from being a doula, I am also trained in the traditional healing art of lomi lomi, Hawaiian massage. I believe this work has made me more attuned to understanding people’s needs and how to help others walk through the difficult challenges on a mental, emotional and spiritual level that commonly manifest themselves in the physical body. I commonly use the Hawaiian practice of Ho’oponopono to bring light to the heavy stones we carry in life so we can have more freedom, peace and ease.