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meet elizabeth
Elizabeth Varaso is a Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator, a DONA Certified Birth Doula and the mother of four very ornery children ages two to twelve. She originally came to Philadelphia 21 years ago to complete her MSEd in Psychological Services from the University of Pennsylvania and to serve at-risk children and families in the Kensington community.
Following a decade in community outreach work, Elizabeth discovered an unexpected calling as a birth professional after being profoundly impacted by the birth of her own children. In particular, the experience of adding a doula to her team of caregivers gave her a vision of how satisfying a well-supported birth could be.
As a doula, Elizabeth has served over 80 birthing families which has given her experience and insight of the inner-workings of most of the city's major hospitals. Her first three children were born at The Birth Center in Bryn Mawr and her fourth at Pennsylvania Hospital, so she has a special fondness for helping families prepare to welcome their babies there. In her 8 years as a childbirth educator, Elizabeth has taught hundreds of expectant couples in group, private, virtual and hybrid formats. She is certain that she has the VERY best job in the world.
It's Elizabeth's desire to provide empowering, evidence-based childbirth education and strong, gentle & loving doula support to other birthing people and their partners with the hope that they will not just cope, but thrive through their childbirth experience. Elizabeth is pleased to serve people from a variety of backgrounds and seeks to honor the sacredness of each pregnancy journey and birth by respecting the needs, goals and values of each individual birthing person. She hopes that her calm and confident demeanor, her enthusiasm and optimistic outlook will help make the adventure of preparing for childbirth an enjoyable one!
Following a decade in community outreach work, Elizabeth discovered an unexpected calling as a birth professional after being profoundly impacted by the birth of her own children. In particular, the experience of adding a doula to her team of caregivers gave her a vision of how satisfying a well-supported birth could be.
As a doula, Elizabeth has served over 80 birthing families which has given her experience and insight of the inner-workings of most of the city's major hospitals. Her first three children were born at The Birth Center in Bryn Mawr and her fourth at Pennsylvania Hospital, so she has a special fondness for helping families prepare to welcome their babies there. In her 8 years as a childbirth educator, Elizabeth has taught hundreds of expectant couples in group, private, virtual and hybrid formats. She is certain that she has the VERY best job in the world.
It's Elizabeth's desire to provide empowering, evidence-based childbirth education and strong, gentle & loving doula support to other birthing people and their partners with the hope that they will not just cope, but thrive through their childbirth experience. Elizabeth is pleased to serve people from a variety of backgrounds and seeks to honor the sacredness of each pregnancy journey and birth by respecting the needs, goals and values of each individual birthing person. She hopes that her calm and confident demeanor, her enthusiasm and optimistic outlook will help make the adventure of preparing for childbirth an enjoyable one!
elizabeth's own nest full of baby birds . . .
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For even more of Elizabeth, check out her podcast, Everyday Thin Places, co-hosted with her good friend and interfaith hospice chaplain, Rachael Gallagher. In each episode Elizabeth & Rachael draw from their experiences supporting birthing people and dying people to explore with honesty, authenticity and humor how we can all become more truly-living people.