It’s not every day you get to witness a miracle, but if you’re a doula — like nail tech Lacy Hood — you get to witness your fair share. Long attracted to babies and pregnancy, Hood received training to become a certified doula earlier this year. “While any person can call themself a doula without any formal training or licensing, I decided to do the training to educate myself and make myself more appealing to potential clients,” says Hood, a tech at Midtown Salon in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. “There are a lot of things that go into becoming certified, including going to a certain number of births, taking a birth class, taking a breast feeding class, etc.” 

Her duties as a doula include helping the mother in a myriad of ways. “The word doula actually means servant in Greek. Some of the things I’m involved with are helping the mother breathe, encouraging her, holding her legs, videotaping, helping her change positions, giving advice, and helping with breastfeeding,” she says. “There are doulas for different things, like abortion, miscarriages, etc. One of the things I specialize in is preconception; it’s the area I know the most about.”

So far Hood has served only at hospital births. “I actually haven’t had the opportunity to be at a home birth yet, but I can’t wait until I do! I’ve watched many videos and talked to a lot of women and the environment at a home birth is just so different than at a hospital.”

The rewards of the profession are obvious. “What I love about my job is being there for a mother when she’s in one of the most pivotal moments in her life,” she says. “Watching a miracle like childbirth unfold is truly breathtaking and amazing!”