Meet Kimberly Ryan

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kimberly Ryan and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kimberly, what role has risk played in your life or career?
Risk plants you square in the space where success or failure are a heartbeat away. Risk brought me two children adopted internationally, a mid-life career change, and a business where my presence can tip the scales for someone else in an outcome.

Adoption was a choice my heart had made long before I was ever a mama. In my 20s I lived overseas and spent time volunteering in orphanages. It marked me. After a medically complex first pregnancy and birth, my husband and I shifted toward adoption and found ourselves welcoming two of our very favorite people in the whole world into our hearts and home. Many people say my kids are so lucky to have found a second chance, but the truth is that I am the luckiest mama to get the privilege of raising them.

17 years into my career as an elementary educator, I felt called to make a change and be more present with my kids. I quit my job, began homeschooling, and became a birth doula – something I had been dipping my toes in for years. This was a huge financial risk for our family and the beginning was a nail biter for sure – BUT miraculously it payed off more than I could have dreamed.

Birth work found me. I attended the birth of my nephew and it changed me in ways words can’t say. The miracle of new life, the raw strength of my sister, and the complexity of navigating a system that pathologizes birth stirred me. I got invited randomly to 4 other births of friends that year because they said I made them feel safe. I was suddenly a birth doula. I got trained and never looked back. Supporting women with evidence based care, heart to heart connection, presence, love, and reverence for their journey into motherhood inspires me to continue learning my craft.

I have completed several advanced trainings and am proud to be a Childbirth Educator, Body Ready Method Pro, Spinning Babies enthusiast, Hypnobabies Doula, and Eco-Postnatal Care Practitioner. Basically, I have a deep understanding of how to prepare the body, mind, and heart of the parents as baby makes the journey from womb to world. My deep understanding of physiology paired with years of experience has given me intuition and skill to see what parents need and provide it.

Doulas create better outcomes. Less trauma, less surgeries, less unnecessary interventions. More birth satisfaction, more safety, more confidence, and more wholeness. I am honored to be invited into this intimate space.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
My business, C.A.L.M. Mama Doula, was birthed in 2017 after I was privileged to attend 5 births of family and friends and realized that being with women in childbirth was a calling that I was ready to answer. I got trained and began attending births concurrently with my teaching career and eventually shifted completely into birth work. C.A.L.M. stands for Connected, Attuned, Life-Welcoming, Mindful. I chose the word “calm” because the most common feedback I got from clients is that I helped them feel calm during their birthing time.

Early in my career as a doula I realized that the evidence based care gap was ushering women into a cascade of unnecessary and sometimes harmful interventions that interrupt physiology and derail good outcomes. I became voracious for knowledge and skills that would bridge this gap and took one advanced training after another.

My care includes three pillars: Education, Physical Support, and Emotional Support.

I educate women about current medical research so that they can advocate for evidence based care and informed consent and denial – a step any 10 minute OB visit ends up skipping. I teach them about physiology and how intricately fine tuned their body and their baby are, emphasizing the need to preserve and protect that physiology for best outcomes. Through my training with Body Ready Method, I observe what types of supports their physical body needs in preparation for the physical act of childbirth and provide targeted preparation that minimizes pelvic floor dysfunction, diastasis recti, and stacks the cards in their favor for better birth outcomes.

During their birthing time, I give continuous care in whatever birth setting they have chosen – home, hospital, or birthing center. My role is to support their autonomy, to protect their physical and emotional space so physiology can unfold, and to provide hands on support. Sometimes this looks like movement, breathing, and massage. Sometimes it is handing them information for informed choices. Sometimes it is eye contact and communicating confidence that they are capable of this journey. And sometimes it is staying out of the way while they go inward and meet themselves in a brand new way.

Doula work is very nuanced. It includes support of the mother, the baby, and all those who are invited into their circle. I am highly attuned to the various needs of the moment – softer lighting or voices, hydration, touch, laughter, or silence.

In the postpartum time I check in on my clients frequently. This is a huge gap in modern maternity care. The first 12 weeks after a baby is born, mothers often get isolated and lost. I provide connection, empathy, and information as well as referrals to other professionals like lactation or body work to support their healing. Intentional processing of the birth story as well as education about optimal healing practices and newborn care are part of my postpartum visit. My Eco-Postnatal Care training from Valerie Lynn helps me to offer warmth and relaxation to the postpartum body through herbal compresses, warming oils, yoni steaming, and bengkung binding.

In the long term, families often reach out to me, even years later to offer updates and seek support in their parenting journeys. I love that my work creates lifelong connections that began with the birth of their child. Every birth I attend teaches me something new and I am so profoundly honored to do this work.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I am a South Bay girl. My friend and I would start our day with a strawberry matcha and avocado toast from Corridor Flow in Lomita. Then we would head to Abalone Cove to hike the cliffs of Palos Verdes and explore tide pools. Lunch would be Ox Tail Pho from Redbo at the Palos Verdes Promenade. In the afternoon we would explore the artists’ booths at Crafted at the Port of Los Angeles and ride the free Red Trolley along the coast. To finish our evening we would have Tofu soup from Jang Su Jang and grab a craft boba from 7 Mile for dessert.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Body Ready Method, founded by Lindsay McCoy, has given me the most in depth tools to support families in birth. I owe much of my perseverance and success in this work to her education and support.

Website: https://www.thecalmmamadoula.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/calm.mama.doula

Facebook: @calm.mama.doula

Other: https://doulamatch.net/profile/28589/kimberly-ryan