Today we’d like to introduce you to Chelsea Anderson.
Chelsea, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
First off- thank you so much for your interest in my birth work and the opportunity for more people to learn about my business and heart behind it! I’m sure most birth workers find themselves in this work because of exposure to birth in one way or another. As a south KC birth doula my origin story doesn’t start with the birth of my children or seeing a loved one experience birth. My first love (professionally, that is) is entrepreneurship. I had just finished 7 years of college, bachelors in psychology and then a leadership/ministry program when I found myself as a teller at a bank when I was 25. That job literally felt like it was sucking the life out of me (no offense to my bankers out there)! I was a newlywed and I talked it over with my husband- and we decided that we could afford for me to quit and look for a new job. Through networking, I ended up on the sales team for a company where I learned so much about business management, leadership, effective communication and understanding personalities. Not long after starting that job, I got pregnant with our first child.
Well…. this was an interesting place to be in life. I wanted to stay home with my baby BUT we also could use some supplemental income AND motherhood rocked me in such a good way that I stopped caring SOOO much about pleasing everyone. My perfectionism and need for approval began to melt away little by little with every diaper change, late night feeding, and load of laundry that my young son wasn’t giving me pats on the back for.
I began to dream about what if I built something that was mine professionally. Something that made us money, that used my skills sets, passions and personality to serve others. My first business baby was “With A Word Speaking Co.” where my mission was “to return people to authentic, confident communication both interpersonally and publicly.” As I had margin in my life at the time, and continued to grow our family, I helped individuals and small businesses understand themselves and each other better through effective communication coaching and training. I had a few speaking gigs where I got to share talks that I had written on the topic while also having individuals who hired me to help them.
NOW… fast forward to 2020 when we got the news that my Dad was in the final stages of kidney failure. We made the decision to move from KC to be closer to family and this little business I had created continued to serve clients virtually for several more years. This is the business that I learned the beauty & drama of creating something that’s success is based on what you are willing to put into it. This thing where you are the boss, the accountant, the marketer, the planner, the spread sheet maker, the form filler outer, HA! Entrepreneurship can beat you up and build you up in a way unlike anything else…kind of like parenthood in some ways. You put your most vulnerable self out there hoping that someone will just like the idea you came up with or trust you to serve them or use your product… and then you expect to get paid for it! Of course, duh, that’s business right?! But if you have ever done it yourself, you know what it’s like the first time you get paid for an original idea or a service you decided to provide when someone could have chose to pay someone else…its exhilarating, and humbling and scary all at once.
I love being a birth doula, and I promise, I am close to reaching that part of my story! Firstly, it’s important to me to speak of the passion and heart behind all I do as a doula comes from my deep love for my family. To have the freedom to be with them, and choose my schedule and feel like I am in some kind of control of my professional destiny. Being a birth doula was always going to be where the pieces would land. It all makes sense as I look back at the last 8 years of my life after having my second son but entrepreneurship is the key that opened the doors to the lifestyle I felt called to. And that is a gift that no particular job will ever be able to give to me as the overarching plunge of business ownership has.
I homeschool my 4 boys, we go on adventures in the middle of the afternoon. “Anderson Adventures” we call them. My kids probably won’t look back and think of me as a “working outside the home mom” because of the sheer amount of time I am with them… and that’s what I wanted. When I get home from being with a client for a prenatal, childbirth education class or a birth, I get all kinds of questions about what I talked about or ‘How big was the baby, was it a boy or a girl?! The rhythm of my current home and professional life is sponsored by the entrepreneurial spirit that I believe God put inside me because He knew that is the tool I was going to need to live my dream lifestyle. I am privileged to have a husband who supports my endeavors by working full time hybrid in office and remote. The love and priority I give to my own nuclear family, I believe, helps me to have more passion and helps me give the utmost support to other families as they endeavor to bring a new baby into the world.
I live in faith that if I put my most authentic self out into the world, (even though there are so many amazing doulas in the KC area to choose from) that I can grow a business that serves families in a way that is life changing. Birth experiences stick with us our entire lives- it matters how it goes. It is so much more than just one day. I believe our birth experience has the ability to bring confidence or fear into our mothering journey right from the start. I do everything I can to help mothers and fathers feel equipped to handle the wild journey of birth in hopes that this same confidence can carry over into parenthood!
I can now proudly introduce you to my second business baby that was born about 2 ½ years ago and is named “With A Word Birth KC.” “With a word we elevate, encourage and nurture the birth experience as we bloom into motherhood.” This business was “born” the same day a dear friend who was unable to have her husband with her at the time, gave birth to her fourth child with me as her legal support person/doula/friend/sister…all of the above. Being present with my friend was my first birth to witness besides my personal experiences with my 4 boys. I had slowly but surely let go of my virtual communication-coaching clients to spend more time with my father and mother. This birth was going to be my litmus test to see if I should truly pursue the training to become a doula. My friends’ birth was beautiful and she was able to meet some of her personal goals for the first time with my support. After everything had settled down and mama was snuggling baby girl, the midwife who helped with the birth asked me how many years I had been a birth doula. I laughed and said, “Well this was my first one.” HA! She replied, “Well, you’re a natural!” After my redemptive birth experience with my second son I had already found myself, for years, helping friends and families build birth plans and coaching them on how to have a more peaceful birth experience. I would talk my husbands ear off with all kinds of “birth and breastfeeding talk”! So after the encouraging words of that midwife at my first birth attended it was enough for me to know this was the next step on my journey of using my skill set to serve the world while still being able to prioritize my family.
As far as branding and naming my business I continued with my love for effective communication and now pull it in to helping families advocate for their birth preferences, find education and empowerment in the birth process and help prepare them for life after birth. I am (obviously) a huge advocate for mothers speaking authentically and positively over their bodies, babies and birth experience. My love for words, creative writing and expression come out in my encounters with clients in such amazing ways in my birth classes or compassionate moments in the throws of labor and delivery. Sheeesh, what a gift this work is!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The road to becoming a birth doula has been a gradual but wonderful journey. I think to fully understand why it can be hard to start a doula business and actually have people hire you is to truly understand what a doula is. Here is the explanation I use on my website, “I am a non medical professional that will walk with you every step of the way in pregnancy, birth and postpartum providing evidence based care. Benefits of hiring a doula include navigation, education and support. I assist you in navigating the healthcare system and deciding what is important to you in a birth place and provider. I educate on the process of labor and delivery while directing you to other resources or professionals as needed. Finally, I am here to be an emotional support and encouragement, reminding you of how strong and amazing you are.”
A birth doula is offering a service that requires people to trust you with one of the most important experiences of their life. Truly, ask any mom and most of the time they can tell you vivid details of each of their birth experiences, including how many miscarriages they have had and when those losses occurred. We are wired for birth to be a sacred and life impacting venture. So most people don’t want to hire a doula who has little to no experience, unless that person is a friend or family member, is giving a significant discount to provide services or has come highly recommended by someone they trust regardless of experience. So for a while I wasn’t getting paid for the births I was serving at or I did them at a lower rate. It’s the same amount of work but less money… that can be hard for anyone to adjust to!
I think the other struggle worth mentioning is the struggle that can happen inside our own hearts and minds as business owners when we start to play the comparison game. We can easily feel that we are “less than” because we don’t have a gorgeous Instagram or thousands of followers. I mean I just learned how to use Canva like a year ago. It has also been less than a year since I knew how to make a reel on Instagram AND I thought it was spelled “Rheel”! HA! I mean I am a millennial I should know some of these things…right?! Well, I have continued to remind myself that I need to stay true to who I am and show up authentically while putting in the work and training to become better at my job.
When you are growing a business while you have multiple kids all under 9, it takes a lot of give and take in your lifestyle to make time for furthering your education and training. We don’t live a fast paced life but there also isn’t a lot of extra margin either. So you have to strategically and delicately make the margin of time and energy. This business has shed light on any areas of my life where self-discipline was lacking, My toddlers have also shed light on opportunities for personal growth as well! So along the way I makes changes and I am so proud of how far I have come and the systems I have put in place to stay organized. I am also proud to say that slowly, over time I continue to make more and more connections across the city with other doulas, providers and women’s health professionals- this of course can help with referrals but more importantly, it allows a larger network of knowledge and support for the families I serve. The birth community is unlike any I have known- an amazing group of people!
We’ve been impressed with With A Word Birth KC- Birth Doula & Educator, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
One of my favorite ways to describe the role and benefits of a birth doula is when I am explaining it to people who have given birth already without hiring a doula. The explanation goes something like this: “Imagine the way your birth went, the good, the bad, the unexpected, the shocking, the beautiful, the ugly, the scary, the wonderful. I’m sure there were lots of emotions no matter if it ended up being a vaginal birth or a belly birth (cesarean section), going exactly as you had hoped or not. Now imagine that same experience but add in a person that you hand picked that had taken the time to get to know you during your pregnancy, was available to answer questions and help you get all the information you needed along the way. Imagine that this same person reassured you that you were in fact so capable to do the work of labor and delivery when you were having moments of fear. Imagine that this same person helped you time when to get to the hospital and made sure that you understood EXACTLY what was medically being done to your body at all times, even down to the simplest of hospital policy. Imagine this woman, (who has now maybe become a good friend) also prepared you in birth education about all the nitty gritty of the birth process and when it comes time to deliver she is right there to remind you of what you already know. She is there to comfort you and meet every need you could possible have that falls into the non-medical category. That means she is there to help meet your physical, emotional and informational needs. She is getting you the water, snacks, physically comforting you and helping get your questions answered from the medical team. She is your advocate and is coaching your main support person, spouse or other friend/family member, of how to best help you and take care of you. Imagine your support person being able to just enjoy the process more and take in the moments with you because the doula is taking care of so many things so they don’t have to. Now, after you imagine all that… do you think that your birth experience would have been better overall?” The answer is almost always yes!
When thinking about it this way… it makes us see that even though a doula isn’t required to have a positive birth experience, it sure is more likely! And that isn’t just me saying that, it is statistically true! Having a doula at a persons birth gives them a 31% increase in the chance of having a satisfying birth experience, 39% decrease in the chances of a C-section and a 41 minute decrease in the length of labor. (Bohren MA, et al., Continuous support for women during childbirth. Cochrane Database of Systematic Review 2017, Issue 7) And that is just to name a few of the benefits of having someone like me involved in your pregnancy, labor and delivery and post birth journey!
If I were to try and talk about some highlights and experience that sets me apart from others I would start with my background in Psychology. I am able to bring this knowledge into birth work in such beautiful ways. I am extremely passionate about my clients being informed on Postpartum Depression (PPD) and Postpartum Anxiety (PPA). I am not certified to treat them, so I do really well at discussing what signs to be looking for (even the quirky signs that people may shrug off) and then I make sure they know who they can reach out to in their area to get the help they need! My psych background makes me really comfortable in letting people talk through their emotions, helping them recognize what they are feeling and moving forward as needed. I am obsessed with the study of grief and most people are surprised at how much grief mingles its way even in to the joy of bringing their child into the world. New seasons of life require us to let go of the old and welcome the new, the changes of welcoming a baby into your life requires a delicate balance of grieving what was, to welcome the new life that is coming. I am honored to help walk people through the emotional sides of the pregnancy and birth process!
Another area that comes to mind is my effective written and verbal communication skills along with my ability to assess quickly and understand personalities of who I am working with. My years of helping small businesses have better cooperative/team skills allows me to build bridges rather than create an “us vs. them” mindset between my clients who have specific birth preferences and the medical staff. My ability to read a room and respond accordingly comes in clutch in one way or another for every birth! The reality is, when you show up to a hospital to have your baby, you are very much at the mercy (or judgment) of the nurses and staff who happen to be working at the time. I am very strategic about how I interact with medical members of my clients’ birth team. I pride myself in finding the balance of advocating when needed while helping everyone really feel the comradery of “we are all in this together.” I even include a staff basket of goodies to bring to the hospital with a keepsake baby book for the staff to sign. I do my best to include all members of the birth team in photos so that my clients can remember who helped them but also so the birth workers can see how appreciated they really are! I know that every interaction I have with medical staff can either help or hinder the overall reputation of the birth doula profession. I hope to always be representing all of us in an honoring and encouraging way!
I am so proud that I have found a way of incorporating the power of words in my services offered to clients since my business slogan includes “With a word we elevate, encourage and nurture the birth experience…” This branding shows up in my services to my clients in offering to write their birth stories out for them or writing what I call a “Baby name mantra or blessing” for them.
When moms are nearing the end of pregnancy and are feeling a little impatient or are overwhelmed that their birth is taking longer than that expected or wanted I like to say the phrase, “Its ok, you and your baby are writing your birth story right now. And the best stories unfold without being rushed.” So there are times when I gift my clients the details of their birth stories all written out from start to finish. This takes a significant amount of time to go back and remember all the details and get it all right. I love adding in memories of the process from my own observation and treasured moments as an added gift and beauty so they can always read back and remember how it all went down. I add in the quirky, the sentimental, emotional, spiritual and fun. The minor details of a child’s birth are usually forgotten over time and so this is a treasured writing that parents usually love. I do less of these in a year because of the time requirement but it is a such a joy to gift families.
The other writing I do for all clients (if they request) is a baby name prayer/blessing/mantra. Depending on the clients religious or spiritual beliefs I use the story of why the parents chose a particular name, the first and middle name origin and meaning, along with any other special factors (like being named after someone) to create a special prayer, blessing or hope for the kind of life the child will have or the person they will become. I come from a belief that the name we give our children holds such power and purpose. I have no doubt that each child who is born has the potential to fill this world with such light and goodness; I believe they were created to do so! There is a reason these babies are here on earth and I love honoring these little lives and giving the family words that could forever be a reminder of the divine purpose they each have. This has become such a meaningful gift I bring and read to my clients at the postpartum (final) home visit. Often times, there are tears shed with the words that have come to my mind to speak over their baby and their birth story.
I have supported all kinds of birth and am equipped to support clients who have all kinds of birth preferences. Its worth nothing though that I am sought out for helping clients who are seeking what we would call “low intervention hospital birth.” One of the ways that I advertise myself is, “A birth doula bridging the gap between the hospital and home birth world.” But what does that really mean? It means that I care deeply about doing all I can for the benefits/freedoms of home birth to transfer over into the hospital setting as much as can be allowed- marrying the holistic mindset of home birth with the resources available at a hospital. I tried to deliver my first out of a hospital setting at an independent birth center in hopes of a low intervention birth and it turned into a non-emergent hospital transfer. With my second, I found the right provider that would support my birth preferences (in the hospital setting) and I had a beautiful, empowering birth! Low intervention would mean that a person is wanting their body to in essence “be left alone” do go through the labor and delivery process. This usually includes forgoing pain medications as well. You might also hear the term “physiological birth” being thrown around when speaking about low intervention birth. For a long time, women have felt an empowering, peaceful, low intervention birth could only be achieved outside of hospital settings. There has been (and still is among certain communities) a huge distrust for the hospital setting for birth… and rightly so because of some of the obstetrical abuse that has occurred. Times have improved tremendously in some areas, and doulas have been a HUGE help! I am so proud of being able to use my own personal experience and expertise with helping people have positive low intervention hospital birth experiences if that is desire! It is worth noting that my highest priority is always helping the mother get the birth experience she was dreaming of whether it is similar or totally different than what I chose for my own birth experiences!
Something else I am really proud of is my track record in being allowed to support my clients one way or another when they go back for a c-section. Most of the time, hospital policy does not allow the doula back to be present in the OR. Fortunately, I have built such trust with the medical staff quite often that they allow me the privilege and honor of staying with my client if their situation escalates to a belly birth (c-section). This may include being able to stay long enough for them to get prepped for the section, stay for the entire procedure, or be allowed back to the post-op room even when usually only the main support person is allowed. I am extremely proud of having the ability to gracefully and humbly build bridges between my clients and medical staff- no matter the birth place!
I offer in home birth education classes for families that are looking to have personalized education as they prepare for their upcoming birth. The first class I offer is “Labor and Delivery: Explore and Learn”. In this class we learn about labor and delivery in a way that allows for you to ask questions and discuss different scenarios that may arise in birth. Content includes signs of the start of labor, stages of labor, caring for yourself after delivery and newborn behavior. The other class I offer is called “Using the 5 senses in Labor: Finding Comfort and Rhythm.” This one is so fun for me to teach! Imagine having tangible ideas to carry with you into labor that can help bring peace and empowerment to the process. Dare I even say a little bit of fun to your
experience. This class is especially helpful for those seeking an unmedicated birth but is beneficial for all families!
In 2026, I plan to add bereavement doula support to my list of services for families. This would allow me to come alongside families who are experiencing a pregnancy loss at any stage of pregnancy, including families whose babies are stillborn. Be watching my socials for the announcement when all is in order for me to offer these services (free of charge) to families in need.
How do you think about happiness?
As revealed in my company name, “With A WORD Birth KC,” one of the activities that makes me most happy is writing! I love the ability words have to unite and connect us. I love to process my life through creative writing. It was only natural to weave it into my branding but more than anything, I have used creative writing to cope with the changes of motherhood, loss, life complications and moments of immense joy. For some reason, when I read this question, “What makes you happy?” for this interview, I was super inspired to write this poem and the words came quite quickly and easily. It reveals a glimpse into my life and other things that make me happy. Here it is:
Title: You Asked Me What Makes Me Happy
By: Chelsea Anderson on Jan.8, 2026
You ask me what makes me happy and I see images of my sons running along a trail with a stick dragging behind them. Their giggles filling every ounce of my heart that is no longer mine but theirs as well.
I see the way the sunset looks behind the silhouette of dark branches and trees on a winter day that gave us early spring weather.
You ask me what makes me happy and I hear my late fathers voice- telling me he loves me, is proud of me and is so thankful for a daughter like me.
I hear my favorite playlist jamming in my ear buds while I dance in the kitchen loading the dishwasher.
You ask me what makes me happy and I can smell the particular shampoo my husband uses and the kids too, because of course they want to be like Dad.
I smell my moms detergent and just a touch of nicotine, nostalgia at its finest.
You ask me what makes me happy and I taste hot chocolate, marshmallows, peppermint…enough said.
I taste my famous monster cookies that reached perfect baking temp, cooled to perfection and softness.
You ask me what makes me happy and I feel the weight of my kids in my arms as I carry them to their own bed after falling asleep in ours.
I feel the touch of a laboring mothers’ hand that reached out for mine as she is doing the most beautiful work to meet her baby.
And I cry as I write this not because I am sad, well maybe a little, but mostly because I am fully and utterly thankful for the life I have been given.
You ask me what makes me happy and my senses become fully aware of the joy I have attained in this complicated, messy and overwhelming life.
Thanks for asking.
Ask me again tomorrow, so I can remember again how good I got it.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.withawordbirth.com
- Instagram: @chatswithchelsea
Image Credits
Joanna Goodman (headshot), Faith Mullenax (1-3 action shots)<br>
