“So, what is a Maternity Coach?”
I get asked this question often. For a simple answer, I usually just break the words down to give a clear, to the point, answer. “It’s a professional who trains or teaches a mother through pregnancy and postpartum.”
However, the role encompasses so much more! How does one adequately express all the hats a Maternity Coach wears throughout her time with a mother? I thought throwing out a few similes might help paint a more vivid picture.
A Maternity Coach is like a:
Personal Consultant
Consultants provide advice to clients by utilizing the specialized skills and knowledge they have gained through education and experience. Maternity Coaches are professionally trained to provide mothers with a deeper level of expertise in the area of pregnancy and postpartum. They work closely with each client creating a pregnancy and birth plan that encompass her ultimate desires in a clear and concise manner. As the consultant, the Maternity Coach, has a gift for helping each mother reach her goals.
Google Search Engine
“Just ask your Maternity Coach”. They are a wealth of knowledge and take joy in researching the unknown for you.
Event Coordinator
An Event Coordinator works behind the scenes preparing for the grand event. The birth of new life is the greatest event there is to be celebrated. A Maternity Coach ensures a mother celebrates throughout her pregnancy. From scheduling a prenatal massage, accompanying her to a prenatal appointment, or ensuring her lips aren’t chapped during labor, the coordinator makes sure every detail is taken care of and, when possible, any crisis is handled with minimal awareness to the mother to make sure she avoids unnecessary stress. Maternity Coaches take pride in handling the multitude of details a mother may desire to relinquish. And they may continue on as her doula, advocating for her throughout childbirth, making every effort to provide mom with an experience that is a pleasure to remember.
Personal Trainer 
The event of childbirth is a marathon, not a sprint. Yes, your body was made to do this, but, like running a marathon, it takes guided preparation. The Personal Trainer helps clients achieve their goals by motivating and educating them. Maternity Coaches are typically trained educators. Throughout each session, important information is given in an effort to prepare a mother mentally and physically for pregnancy and childbirth.
Giving birth could be the most empowering time in a woman’s life. Unfortunately, once in labor, many do not experience this time as empowering or even positive. Having a maternity coach from the moment you find out you are expecting through your first weeks postpartum gives you the continuous support and guidance needed throughout your pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum.
Private Entourage
Self-explanatory, right? Who wouldn’t benefit from having a private entourage? An entourage usually consist of group of people who surround a person of importance (the mother in this case). They supply them with every aspect they need to continue on their path of success. This posse may embody: one who connects you to the right people; one who is experienced enough to give sound advice; one realist who keeps you grounded in your reality (like it or not); and one who is your cheerleader, motivating you every step of the way. A Maternity Coach is all in one.
Hotline Operator
A hotline operator offers counseling via phone for the weary mind. Unlike provider office hours, a Maternity Coach is available to talk anytime.
Close Friend
Maternity Coaches can become a part of your life from the moment you pee on the stick. During this extended time between mother and coach, a relationship is built. This relationship is not one of medical relation. It isn’t forced to develop during a 12-hour shift. And it doesn’t dissolve after discharge from your birth facility. 
Zeroing back to the heart of it all and the simplistic definition, a Maternity Coach is a professional who trains, educates, and supports mothers during pregnancy, childbirth, and motherhood, empowering them every step of the way to assist them in navigating through their individual and special journeys.
To find out more about Maternity Coach services click here.