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About me

Woman. Doula. Mother of two incredible boys. Defender of humanized birth and parenting based on respect.

woman holding her baby

My history

I'm Joana. I was born on March 30, 1993, in Lisbon. But it was on the South Bank of the Tagus that I grew up. I mix several experiences within myself: during the day, a nanny and my great-grandmother, maternal and caring women, held me; At night, I had the presence of my mother and grandmother, objective and hard-working, with the spirit of a warrior woman. All of them women who I consider my roots. That gave me different concepts of family: the one we choose, that of blood, and the one that chooses us, that of the heart.

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I have always been a dreamer, creative and eager for knowledge. I have always liked taking care of others and communicating. Ask why. I wanted to be a circus artist, a pediatrician, a kindergarten teacher, a television presenter and a mother.

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The desire to tell stories - because I believe that they all have value - made me study journalism. The ambition to want to experience the world, and discover lives different from mine, took me to London, where I lived. The rest of Europe followed. And then India.

I wasn't a circus artist, but I've tried the trapeze. I wasn't a pediatrician, but I've taken care of many children. I wasn't a kindergarten teacher, but I've held many babies in my arms. I wasn't a television presenter, but I find writing another way to tell all the stories.

women at sunset

Woman. Mother. Doula.

I fulfilled my greatest wish of all: becoming a mother. It was motherhood that launched me on the greatest journey of self-discovery: I was able to look clearly at the fears that freeze me, the beliefs that limit me and the shadows that mask me. And, little by little, I started to gain awareness of myself. What I want. What I'm capable of.

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The day my first child was born was, for me, a complete metamorphosis. I feel like I not only gave birth to my son, on a hot Wednesday in August, but also a new woman. A woman who can choose. A woman who can ask. A woman who can talk. A whole woman. I.

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And I keep a beautiful scar to remind me of this rebirth.

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And, if being the mother of this first child allowed me to see the strength of the woman I am, three years later, bringing my second child into the world was finding me with the certainty that I truly deserve wonderful things.

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Today, this is where I find myself. And it is from this place that I leave to show myself as I am. I have my head in the clouds but my feet firmly on the ground. I am creative but focused on putting my ideas into practice. Eager for knowledge but eager to share with the world what I learn along the way. With a desire to care for others but also seeing them as whole, capable and autonomous beings. Deserving of respect whatever your choice.

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This is my story and it makes me who I am: woman, mother of two incredible boys, doula by Rede Portuguesa de Doulas , defender of respected birth and parenting based on conscience, certain of the power of each person's informed choice of us.

100familias

More than 100 families accompanied

Training

Training Courses

  • 7 Steps to Becoming an Excellent Breastfeeding Professional, Sara Castro (2024)

  • Pre-Conception Doula Course, Portuguese Network of Doulas & Catarina Gaspar (2022)

  • Postpartum Doula Course, Portuguese Doula Network (2021)

  • Advanced Doula Course, Portuguese Doula Network (2020)

Workshops

  • ⁠Impact of sexual abuse in the perinatal period, Diana Marcelino & Catarina Gaspar (2024)

  • Spinning Babies Workshop (Foundational Workshop), Maíra Libertad (2023)

  • First Advanced Journeys in Breastfeeding with Lisa Marasco (2023)

  • Midwifery Law for Doulas, Jusnascimento (2021)

  • Pelvic Health for Doulas, Sílvia Charepe Dias (2021)

Others

  • Journeys for Humanized Birth, Born in Évora (2021 )

Find out more about my doula services here .

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