About Me

My Mission

The mission of Shannon Brown Doula Service is to provide high-quality, compassionate labor and delivery support for the birthing person and their partner.

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My Vision

The vision of Shannon Brown Doula Service is to expand the public’s understanding of doula care and bring doula care to as many area families as possible.

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About Shannon

I’m a Port Crane, NY, native, and live there with my husband (my high school sweetheart!) and our two sons and daughter. In my full-time job, I work in the human service field with adults with disabilities. And since 2013, I’ve been honored to serve families as a birth doula.

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My personal experiences with pregnancy and birth have run the gamut from grief to joy. My first two pregnancies ended in miscarriage. When I was pregnant for the third time, I attended a support group for women who were expecting after a previous pregnancy loss. One of the other attendees told me about doula care, and recommended the doula my husband and I hired for the births of our sons – both pitocin-induced hospital births without pain medication.

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My husband and I both appreciated and valued the support and expertise of our doula throughout pregnancy, labor and delivery. As we planned a move from Buffalo, NY, back home to Broome County, I started researching doula options for a next pregnancy, and was sad to find that at that time there was only one practicing doula available. This realization, in combination with my love for birth, made me decide to start my doula training in 2012. Along with my formal coursework, I was fortunate to be mentored by Buffalo-area doulas, including the one who attended my deliveries.

​When we talked about hiring a doula for our first birth, my husband was apprehensive that a doula would replace him. During my labor, he realized that was not the case, and what a valuable support the doula provided. He even said he would not want to birth again without a doula! Our third birth – a beautiful home birth – was also attended by a doula and a wonderful midwife.

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When I was a doula client, it was comforting to know that I had an educated person I could reach out to with pregnancy- or birth-related questions. Our prenatal meetings were enlightening – in reviewing our birth plan with my husband and doula, we learned about our options and discussed what kind of birth experience we were hoping to have. This cemented my belief that people should go into birth educated about their choices so they can make informed decisions. I am a firm believer that everyone is entitled to the birth experience they desire, and my goal is to help make that happen.​