Sarah Eiley Cowherd
Certified Birth and Postpartum Doula (DTI)
Certified Professional Midwife (NARM), Folk Herbalist, Grassroots Birth Activist, Community Chaplain
My calling to support families through childbirth is an alchemy of art, science and soul. I trust in the body's abundant natural wisdom and rely on evidence-based research to inform how I guide my clients. I was supporting parents-to-be through birth long before I had my own babies, tapping into my own deeply rooted maternal instincts. Nurturing comes naturally to me, and birthwork is my heart's calling. Now as a mother of four children, I know my own personal birth and parenting experiences have enriched my work as a doula and midwife. Since 2005, I have served families of all kinds, offering non-judgmental support with a commitment to respecting and honoring the individual choices each family makes. It is my belief that when you are supported and encouraged to take ownership of your choices and your birth, you will have a more satisfying experience and be able to face childbirth and parenting with courage and confidence.
As a birthworker, my role is to help my clients find tenacious confidence within themselves and learn to trust their bodies and their own powerful intuition. It is my desire to create a peaceful space where my clients can discover their voice and their strength. I believe every birth, with its own unique path of twists and turns, can be an empowering experience. What I have found through supporting numerous families is that the childbearing years are a ripe time for transformation and growth. Building a family requires gentle guidance and wisdom from those who have walked this journey before us. It is one of my greatest joys to do this ancient and important work.
I endorse The Midwives Model of Care, which emphasizes the importance of the birthing woman’s experience and centers her autonomy. I also deeply understand the nuances of freedom to choose the path that suits each family best and the necessity of life-saving medical care. I believe empowered and informed CHOICE is a divine birthright, and because of this I can enthusiastically support families who want to have a birth within the medical paradigm as well as those who choose out-of-hospital options. I would love to help you choose the birth team that will support your unique goals best.
Like many folks in Charlotte, I am a northern transplant growing some southern roots. Originally from Upstate New York, I have fallen madly in love with The Queen City! Outside of my Doula practice, I am also a traditional and holistic Certified Professional Midwife (NC unfortunately does not recognize this esteemed credential with state licensure). I completed extensive herbal medicine studies and an apprenticeship in Embodied Herbalism with Alchemillas Medicinals and trainings with The School of Evolutionary Herbalism and One Willow Apothecaries. I am a Certified Energy & Sound Healer and love to weave my background in Music Therapy into everything I do. I have a bachelors degree in Creative Arts in Therapy and Women's Studies from Russell Sage College and over a decade of advocacy work related to birth and parenting. You can usually find me outside barefoot, raising some silly chickens and far too many household pets and running our urban homestead with a 5,000 sq ft medicinal herb and flower garden. My husband and I have dubbed our four children, ages 16, 14, 11 and 9, “The Wild Things" and they fill our days with chaos and joy. @wildsagemama