Ask Auntie Eve: Lessons in Birth Work
On growing, adapting and trusting the process as a birth worker.
If you’ve been around here for a while, you’ve probably seen Auntie Eve pop up in our community spaces — in videos, conversations and comment threads that make you pause and say, “Yesss, that part.”
Eve is a Dallas-based doula and student midwife, founder of EVE Birth Services, and a beloved voice in our village (also our founder’s real-life doula — twice!). Known for her honest, spirit-led approach to birth and community care, Eve’s work reminds us that this path isn’t just professional — it’s sacred and divinely-appointed. She’s currently in what she calls her “cocoon season”: studying, mothering and preparing for her next chapter in midwifery.
Eve has shared her wisdom in a few of our favorite pieces — Fibroids & Womb Health, Iron & Energy, and Beauty Rest: A Guide to Healing Sleep — and in live conversations like Postpartum Healing and VBAC Birth. Every time, she drops gems.
Recently, a community member (LP's vibe 👋🏽) slid into her DMs with a few thoughtful questions about the path to becoming a doula, balancing evidence with intuition, and what it really looks like to live this calling day to day. The answers were too good not to share, so we turned the exchange into a Q&A. Enjoy!
LP’s Vibe: What path to become a doula did you take?
Auntie Eve: I trained through BEST, but my real education came from birth rooms, grandmamas’ wisdom and Spirit. You gotta start somewhere, but doula work isn’t a “follow these steps” kind of calling. It’s sacred. It’s a contract between you, the family and that baby’s soul. Spirit is trusting you to show up with clean hands, a steady heart and intuition tuned in.
Do you wish you’d chosen a different path — or see how the path could be made easier for someone just starting out?
If I could change anything, I’d make the process more community-based and less commercial. Everybody’s trying to “brand” this work now. I’d love to see more mentorship, more real-life training and fewer folks gatekeeping wisdom that was never meant to be sold. It should feel like apprenticeship, not an application. If you’re new, find a solid mentor and some hands-on experience — that’s where the real learning lives.
How do you balance science and spirituality — evidence-based research and ancestral knowing?
Science is the how. Spirit is the why. I keep up with research, but I also know birth ain’t a lab experiment. I trust herbs, prayer, ancestral knowing and the body’s wisdom. I blend both because our clients deserve care that honors the whole being: body, mind and spirit. Like Queen Afua says, this work is priestess work.
“Your intuition is your certification. The rest is practice, humility and faith.”
How do you manage the unpredictability of birth when you’re also a mom?
Unpredictable means I need a plan. Birth doesn’t wait for anyone, so I stay ready. I’ve written out my kids’ full drop-off and pick-up schedules: addresses, times, tutoring, swim lessons, basketball — all of it. I keep a list of the meals they like, bedtime routines and what to do if I’m not home.
I’m a single mom, so when I have to call someone for help, I set them up to succeed. My village doesn’t have to guess — it’s all written down. And I teach my kids what to do when Mama’s at a birth, how to move through the morning like clockwork.
Sometimes I leave while they’re asleep and come back before they wake up, and they walk out the door fed, greased up, uniforms on and backpacks ready. That’s what balance looks like for me: systems, surrender and a whole lot of faith.
“This isn’t influencer work.
It’s altar work.”
What’s one way the doula community needs to evolve?
Whew. Where do I start? We need less competition and more collaboration. More transparency about money, ethics and emotional boundaries. More inclusion of Black, Brown and community doulas in “mainstream” spaces — without tokenizing us. We gotta return to the roots: birth work as service, not status. This isn’t influencer work. It’s altar work.
Looking back, what’s the first thing you wish you’d done differently?
Trusted my gut sooner. I spent too long trying to “look” like a professional doula instead of being who Spirit called me to be. Now I know: your intuition is your certification. The rest is practice, humility and faith.
What books do you recommend for doulas-in-training?
Auntie Eve:
Spirit Babies — for understanding that babies choose us and that conception, pregnancy and birth are sacred contracts.
Placenta: The Forgotten Chakra — because the placenta is more than an organ; it’s the first altar, the baby’s twin and the bridge between worlds.
Sacred Woman by Queen Afua — the blueprint for reclaiming womb power and spiritual hygiene.
A Modern Map to Ancient Midwifery — a reminder that this path has always existed; we’re just remembering what our grandmothers already knew.
Reclaiming the Spirit: Midwives, Medicine, and Birth in the South by Linda Janet Holmes — where she travels through the South and Africa interviewing traditional midwives and healers.
Listen to Me Good: The Life Story of an Alabama Midwife — the living testimony of what this work looked like before birth centers and hashtags.
You can take every certification in the world, but if you don’t understand birth as spiritual technology, you’ll miss the magic.
Next Up
Join us for the next Ask a Doula Anything: Daddy Edition (Part 2), Live on Tuesday, October 14th at 3pm CT/4pm ET.
Auntie Eve will join our founder, Lindsey Farrar and her husband Nkrumah to build on last week’s conversation about how partners can best support during pregnancy, birth and postpartum. See you there!
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Auntie Eve was so thoughtful with all her answers. I messaged her when she was busy enjoying life and she still doubled back with care and intention. I love this space so much 🥰❤️
We are each other’s harvest. Gratitude overflows 🫶🏽