AprilBolding.Com

April was our guide into parenthood.  We met her as our childbirth instructor and asked her to be our doula.  We were drawn to her deep level of expertise, her wit and humor, and the evident significance of love, acceptance, and intuition in her life and in her work.  From building our birth plan, to sharing clues that labor was on its way, to the actual childbirth and delivery, she was a confident advocate that birth is a celebration and that we would be ready to be parents.
--Jeanne & David, expectant parents in my Great Starts Childbirth Preparation Class and doula clients, Spring 2009

I thank April for all her support, encouragement, and wisdom. I really can't imagine having to do it without her!
--Doula client's husband & birth partner, Fall 2007

Even though our son's birth didn't follow the plan, it still feels so perfect. Part of why it feels so right was the great team I had around me. I felt such relief when we arrived at the hospital and April was there. I wouldn't change a thing if I had it to do again!
--Doula client, Fall 2007

April is a joy to know. I am so thankful for her efforts to bring our baby happily into the world. I could feel her belief in my ability and I relied on her encouragement and positive energy. It was wonderful to have her to talk through ideas during the pregnancy, hands-on during labor and phone support postpartum. She was sensitive and professional at each and every moment of my labor. I was in transition for several hours and needed to fight the urge to push for some time, so her work was really cut out for her. Together, both she and my husband made this amazing team and I felt so supported and validated with my decisions at various points. When I experienced complications, April was there with me while my husband was able to be with our baby.  Without her, that part of the birth would have been traumatic for me. Instead, I treasure the memory of my birth.
--Jessica, expectant mother in my Great Starts Childbirth Preparation Class and doula client, Spring 2009

I thank April for going on this emotional, spiritual and physical journey with me. Her guidance, support and openness were absolutely key to this beautiful birth. Despite the surgery, this birth felt so whole, my voice so strong, and my path so clear. What a tremendous gift to myself and my daughter and the whole family- as we move forward, together, as a family.
--Doula client, Fall 2005

I am so grateful to have had April as our birth doula.  She was such an integral and dedicated part of the birth process that I have a hard time imagining the experience without her support.  April had been our birthing class teacher, and so when a previously contracted doula was no longer available to attend our birth, I knew that April was the person to call.  My planned home birth involved a transfer to the hospital, many hours of very close contractions and back labor, and finally a short but intense pushing out of the baby.  April was by my side the entire time, working closely with my partner to provide me lower back relief (for what was probably at least six straight hours), and providing me plenty of reassurance and guidance when I needed it.  She has the perfect combination of knowledge, experience, strength, warmth and that certain nurturing quality that makes the difference.  Following the birth, April really helped me work through my emotional response to the birth, and just continued to go above and beyond what I ever imagined.
--Sadie, Doula client and expectant mother in my Homebirth class, Winter 2009

We are extremely thankful to have met April and feel lucky to have had her as our teacher. She was present for us during our baby's birth and her teaching was so important to us during the entire time. She's been a gift to our entire family.
--Expectant parents in my Great Starts Childbirth Preparation Class, 2004

With all my attention to scientific evidence and the physiologic processes of birth, I find the transformative and spiritual aspects of birth to be my source of inspiration. Birth transforms our social roles - a woman becomes a mother, a man becomes a father, mothers and fathers become grandparents and so on. For the birthing mother, the transformation that takes place can go far deeper than she knew was possible. Fathers and partners who are tuned-in and committed to this process are changed forever. What exactly happens to cause this shift cannot be boxed in one explanation. All of us hold a key piece to this mystery. For me, the rite of passage we walk through in birth manifests as a birth portal.

A portal is a threshold or passageway. The sacred, mysterious portal one goes through in birth and death, must be experienced to be understood. When a woman gives birth, she becomes the passageway to life. This is what I felt when giving birth to my daughters. When I support a woman in labor, it is awe-inspiring being present when she transforms before my very eyes and becomes the conduit, the portal to life. Vital energy is teeming through her, pulsating and she is alive, superhuman and extra-ordinary! In the aftermath, she is forever changed for having the portal manifest through her. As am I, for having been by her side.

Here is a brief excerpt of a birth story I wrote for a birthing mother I assisted at her beautiful and fast home birth:

"We were all witnesses to this awe-inspiring rite of passage that (the mother) had just walked through. She was resolute, wise, yielding, confident, and strong throughout this process and here she was, just barely on the other side of it, still wind-blown and not fully touching this earth - holding her 9 pound baby girl radiating her light, pride, joy and inner peace. This is who Grace met as her mother. This glowing warrior birthing goddess. This self-confident, powerful, compassionate woman who chose to go to her end, touch it and make it back. Transformed. Transforming us. Could there be a better gift from a mother to a daughter than to become the radiant, loving, confident woman you hope she will be someday? These are the gifts this mother and daughter exchanged today."

Finally, as a portal is a gateway to another place, so is this website.  In computer terms, a portal is a web site that functions as an entry point to the Internet, as by providing useful content and linking to various sites on the Internet. So, here we meet at this virtual Birth Portal and you can explore beyond this site for the knowledge you seek. May it lead you to what you are looking for and beyond!