A Joyful Blessing

05/29/2026

As I prepare for my next birth any day now, I am proud to announce that I completed my VBAC Certification through !!! This has been a long time coming and I couldn’t be more thrilled! I am a 2 time HBAC mom myself and this is so meaningful to me as my VBACs were so healing and redemptive. It is a huge blessing to be able to come to the table to support families seeking further support in this area, by the grace of God!

05/29/2026

So proud to share that I am officially a VBAC Certified Doula! It’s the biggest blessing to serve families in the birth space and I’m happy to expand in providing further support to families seeking a new birth experience as they plan to have a VBAC!

VBAC-certified doula serving Chicago’s North Shore and Lake County, including Libertyville, Vernon Hills, Mundelein, Lincolnshire, Gurnee, Grayslake, Waukegan, Kenosha, and nearby suburbs. Specializing in VBAC, HBAC, home birth, hospital, and birth center support with evidence-based education, com...

01/22/2026

With deep gratitude and hope, we’re honored to share that this June we’ll be welcoming our fifth son into the world. After loss, the next baby is often called a “rainbow baby” - a reminder of beauty after the storm. As a family, we continue to choose joy while holding space for everything we’ve walked through. We are incredibly thankful for this little boy and for each of you who continue to love, pray for, and support our family as we step into this next chapter.

As a birth doula and documentor, I want to share what this means for my work 🤍
I will continue supporting and documenting births up until I deliver, which means I am personally taking on families with due dates in March, April, and through early May.

During the summer months, A Joyful Blessing Birth Services will continue serving families through a partnership community model. Some of my incredible, trusted backup/partner doulas will be supporting families during that time-so there is absolutely no gap in care. Every family will be fully supported, held, and loved, just as if I were there myself.

I’ll be gently returning in the fall, late-September through December, and cannot wait to continue walking alongside families during such sacred, life-changing moments.

Thank you for trusting me, for supporting our growing family, and for being part of this beautiful community. God is so good. 🙏🏼🌈💕

With love,
Jen 🤍

01/10/2026

A birth I held close for a while.
Early last year.
Physiological. Supported. Powerful.
Yes, even in a hospital.

12/23/2025

As I rest & reflect on this year, my heart is overflowing with gratitude. In 2025, I had the incredible honor of serving 20 families, and I remain in awe of the strength, wisdom, and power within each woman’s ability to birth her baby.

To every family who trusted me in such a sacred space-whether for the first time or again-THANK YOU. Being invited back to serve repeat families and stay connected with former families is one of the greatest gifts of this work. Pregnancy, birth, and postpartum are deeply intimate and holy moments, and I never take that trust lightly.

I am SO grateful for the birth workers I collaborated with this year-amazing doulas now in my circle of trust, along with compassionate midwives and OBs who showed up with care and respect. Community in the birth space matters, and I am thankful for mine.

My heart continues to be drawn toward supporting families as they prepare for birth-helping them become informed, confident advocates, work through fears or past trauma, and understand the beauty of physiological, intuitive birth.

I am excited to welcome a new year filled with life, healing, growth, partnerships, and more positive birth experiences. As always, I trust that God will connect me with each family I am meant to serve in 2026. Thank you for being part of this journey.

2025 AJB Birth Services Statistics:
✨
*Families Served: 20
*Male: 8
*Female: 12
*Midwife led prenatal care: 13 (6 home, 7 hospital)
*6 home births
*14 hospital births
*2 birth preparation support only
*1 backup/partner attended birth
*19 vaginal births
*1 cesarean birth
*Doula Services: 17
*Film: 6
*Photography: 17
*Episiotomy: 1
*Shoulder Dystocia: 4 (2 home, 2 hospital)
*1st time pregnancy: 8
*Multip pregnancy: 12
*1 surrogacy
*1 Prodromal labor-3 days
*6 Natural Physiological unmedicated birth in hospital (4 OB led care & 2 Midwife led care)
*6 Natural Physiological unmedicated birth at home (midwife led care)
*8 medicated births (hospital, 4 midwife led care & 4 OB led care)
✨

With so much gratitude,
Jen
🤍A Joyful Blessing Birth Services

07/22/2025

The bathroom becomes sacred space.
In the quiet, in the labor, in the letting go…this is birth in its rawest form.
Unfiltered. Powerful. Beautiful.
Honored to witness and document this moment of transformation.

07/19/2025

Sometimes you walk in the door to attend a home birth and you see your midwife standing there. All the warm feelings come rushing in. Every single time. I was so delighted to see you this morning and as usual, overjoyed to stand in the driveway for another hour talking all the birthy things.

05/28/2025

Mother labors. Mother awaits.

05/28/2025

Water baby💦👶🏻 with 💕🙏🏼

05/28/2025

Baby elbow dimples 🥹.