About Me
Hello! My name is Melanie Joy Pierce. I am a country girl from the Missouri Ozark Mountains. I have enjoyed many wonderful years of homeschooling my children, some of whom are now grown and getting married (and I’m even a grandma now!), though I still have 3 at home, so I’m not an empty-nester yet!
I have spent many years of my life living in various other states, including a long stint in Arizona where I started raising my children, but Missouri called me back to the old family farm and we moved to Mansfield in 2012.
Towards the end of 2020, I was so blessed to find the great love of my life, Andy, who was a perfect fit for our family. Together, he and I began our own little homestead here on the farm, complete with a flock of free-range chickens, a herd of goats, and our beautiful Great Pyrenees dogs. We also grow a large organic garden and are always thinking of ways to expand our self-sufficiency, while enjoying our bountiful life.
I am so happy to be living my dream!
During my early wanderings as a young single woman, I spent eight months overseas in the country of Nepal where I witnessed and helped with a birth for the very first time in 1996. It was a life-transforming moment for me and how I found my calling. Thus began my life-long journey as a birthworker…
Falling in love with all things birth-y…
It all started in the wee hours of the morning on the back porch of our little Nepalese clinic when I was 22 years old, holding the “torch” for the midwife and learning how to say “push” in Nepali, while a young mother gave birth to her first baby. It was surreal and beautiful. I could only think of one thing…someday I wanted to be a midwife.
But eventually, back in the States, life happened and soon enough, I was married and starting a family. I couldn’t juggle it all though, so instead of continuing to pursue my midwifery education, I focused on breastfeeding & raising my babies. I spent my spare time reading everything I could about pregnancy and natural birth.
During this time, I carved out time to be a labor doula to anyone who reached out to me in need. Through these experiences, I found that I learned something new at every birth and over the years, I saw women becoming empowered as they embraced this incredible transformation to motherhood. Together, we were changing the world bit by bit.
As I continued to support other women who were having babies, I was also having babies. Though my first choice was to have all home births, my middle baby was born via C-section, due to unforeseen circumstances. I struggled in the aftermath of that birth and spent some time healing emotionally from its impact. Eventually, I came to terms with the ordeal, however, and went on to have two very empowering VBACs (Vaginal Birth after Cesarean).
All told, I am so grateful for each one of my experiences, as collectively, they have shaped me into the person I am today and made me a better and more empathetic doula. So here I am, still learning everything I can about birth and still loving my role as a doula…and ready to be a vessel of service, the one who bears witness to your beautiful moment, your companion as you search for and find JOY IN YOUR JOURNEY!