Meet Chanel Hogue | Doula & Childbirth Educator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Chanel Hogue and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Chanel, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
When I first began on my journey in the birth world, it was simply to share education that I wish I knew when I was pregnant with my first child. I knew that if I didn’t know some of this information then many other women probably didn’t either. So, my goal was to simply share the education that I received and what allowed me to have a redemptive second birth experience after a traumatic first one.

When I began sharing and teaching childbirth education on social media out of passion, I never imagined that it would turn into a business that would allow me the opportunity to impact thousands of women on a daily basis. I just simply wanted to help women change the narrative of birth by knowing how to have a beautiful birth experience and advocate for themselves.

When I started to see the interest and response from what I was sharing, I decided to take doula training and create a formal childbirth education course that would include much of my two different birth experiences as well as a holistic approach to preparing the entire body for birth – mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually. This also included education for the partners, since oftentimes they are left out of the equation when we think about birth preparation. I wanted to provide the same level of support and guidance to families that my doula provided me because it made the world of a difference for the type of birth I experienced.

I started by teaching a free 4 week class to 15 women who desired to have a natural and beautiful birth experience. I didn’t have any intention of making this a full blown business, but wanted to create a virtual course that could reach many women in newly changed birthing environments due to the lack of support a mama could receive in birth due to COVID restrictions in hospitals. I knew that with fewer voices in the room, it would be more difficult to advocate for ourselves when most of us didn’t have the information we needed to do it anyways.

I knew that if I could get this information and empowerment into the hands of families, they would be able to experience birth in a positive light like I did and avoid any unnecessary trauma that didn’t belong in such a beautiful moment – regardless of how much support allowed in the delivery room.

Ultimately, this kind of became a business on accident. Once I started to see the impact this course was having on families and how I could support a mama as a doula via FaceTime and she have the experience we were preparing for, I began receiving more inquiries for education and doula support. I didn’t exactly know if I was ready for everything that was coming my way, but I knew that I had a desire to help women change the narrative and experience a a more positive birth experience.

The rest has been history. I have continued to learn and educate myself as well as my families to know their rights, their options and the positive and beautiful side of birth that exists.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
None of what I do feels like a business for me, it feels like heart work – almost like the assignment God gave me when He designed me. I didn’t know it until I got into it, but I know this is exactly where I am supposed to be.

What sets me apart as a doula and childbirth educator is that I approach birth in a very positive, empowering and natural way. I don’t subscribe to the negative images and narratives that exist around birth. I believe that we can all be fearless going into birth if we have the right education and support. Women have been giving birth since the beginning of time and it has been the most natural biological process that we can ever take part in. Our bodies were designed to do this, but we have forgotten that along the way.

I have been able to experience a negative birth experience as well as a redemptive and beautiful birth experience, so I have been able to see the differences of what went wrong, what my partner and I needed to know, and how to best prepare to avoid unnecessary interventions in this process.

It has definitely been a journey to restructure and share different perspectives of what we have all been taught about birth our entire lives as well as helping women believe that they don’t have to experience it, but its been worth it. I have seen the lightbulbs go off for so many women and them share their experiences that have changed the narrative for their families and generations after them. Women are taking back their control in birth and writing their own birth stories and it’s a beautiful thing to watch.

I have learned that education leads to empowerment. When you give someone the education and tools to accomplish a task, they can take that far. However, when you empower them to trust themselves to utilize those tools, you see change happen.

I always run up against doubters and individuals who don’t believe anything outside of what they’ve seen on TV and from friends and family about this experience which is fine for me. I realize that I may not be able to change everyones perspective and that’s not my goal. My goal is to provide the education and resources for women to use so that they can make the decisions that are best for their birth stories. Informed decision making is powerful – even if that looks different than the next woman.

I want the world to know that I believe in every mama’s body to do what it was designed to do and for it to tell us if something is wrong. I hope that we all can see and believe that our bodies can and will deliver our babies in a beautiful way if we allow it to. I hope to provide you all the tools and resources to do just that.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If a friend was visiting me in Dallas, I would most likely take them to explore the outdoors of Dallas and venture to Lower Greenville for food and drinks.

While we don’t do much without our kids nowadays, here’s what our itinerary might look like:

We would most likely start our mornings off on a nice walk along Katy Trail or Bishop Arts to grab coffee and breakfast. I love these areas because they are very quaint with a lot of character and uniqueness to them with a variety of shops and places to eat.

We would then probably head to Uptown and/or Shops at Legacy for some nice shopping venues and lunch to explore other parts of the city.

Lastly, we would most likely end our nights for dinner and drinks in Lower Greenville. This is one of my favorite places to visit because of the beautiful outdoor and rooftop seating as well as the many different types of things you can do there including live music and fun bars.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My doula, Krisha Crosley, deserves SO MUCH credit for the doula and childbirth educator I am today. Without her support and guidance from our initial consultation, I wouldn’t have experienced and viewed birth the way I do today, nor would I be able to support families the way that I do.

She not only helped me learn how to trust my body to do what it was designed to do, she helped me learn how to educate myself on how to view the birthing process and utilize the strengths I already had to achieve a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) even when so many people doubted me.

After birth, I knew I wanted to be able to provide that same level of support for other women because we all deserve it in such a beautiful experience in our life.

She has been instrumental in mentoring and educating me in my journey as a doula. She continues to support me to provide the best support for my mamas.

I wouldn’t be where I am today without her coaching and support.

Website: https://www.awerkingmama.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/awerkingmama

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/awerkingmama

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaXW4Oth4iBGyRv7qVHEG1g

Image Credits
Chaunva LeCompte Photography