The two weeks gave me the needed respite to heal and think about how I was going to mother five children. The support helped my husband so he could work to support his growing family. This growing family was going to cost a lot to support so I was feeling pressure (from myself) to find a way to help provide for our family. I knew I couldn’t go anywhere, I also knew I wasn’t going to bring more kids in to our home so I was wracking my brain as to what I could to provide income. It was during this time I read an article on doula services. I spoke to Sheila about it. She also had for her own reasons and desire to find a good way to make needed income. Combined with my recent epiphany, stressing over how I was going to help support our family, and intense prayer, it was not surprising that I awoke at three in the morning with the idea of starting a doula service. It all came together. I ran downstairs and checked the Yellow Pages for doula services in the area. There were none. I waited for 7:00 a.m. (a fairly decent time to make a phone call) to call Sheila. I blurted out my idea and she said “you’re a genius!” I wasn’t a genius but the idea fit us both because she had experience working with a nursing home agency and I had a lot of experience with mom’s and postpartum. I made a phone call to the National Association of Postpartum Care Services in February of 1993 and found out some information on starting an agency. It was all very scary but it had to be followed through on. Sheila and I spent the next 8 months putting together our business, and on October 15, 1993 we put our phone in. On October 16 the phone rang! We looked at each other in horror and amazement and excitement. We answered the phone and it was our first client. A mother of five who had struggled with postpartum depression in the past and was home with a newborn. We’ve been answering the phone ever since and have been happily providing both loving postpartum and labor doulas to meet the needs of families in our area. We count it a privilege to be “let into” families to help them at this really delicate and important time of life. MothersCare is privileged to assist families at such a special time.