MEET THE DOULA
Hello, my name is Richelle Paoli. I was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, California. I grew up fascinated with birth and babies. By the time I was nineteen years old, I had given birth to three children, escaped an abusive marriage and started prerequisites for nursing school. I went through nursing school as a single mother on welfare, living in public housing. I graduated from the nursing program at College of Marin with honors in 2012 and was pinned by my children at my graduation ceremony, the proudest day of my life aside from my children’s births.
During the next few years, I worked on a telemetry unit, on a 911 ambulance and in a bustling urban emergency room, taking a hiatus in between to go home and care for my dying mother on hospice. After she passed, I continued to work as an emergency nurse and eventually met my current partner and started over having babies. I had already experienced birthing in the hospital, at home and at a birth center, but this next chapter of mothering brought me even deeper on my journey of decolonizing birth and child rearing. I had the privilege of leaving nursing to be a stay at home mom for five years. My fourth baby was born at home with a traditional midwife, followed by two freebirths, including one in a 33 foot travel trailer, which we lived in at the time! You can hear my birth stories here on a podcast that I co-hosted.
I have since continued to gain more nursing experience in both acute care on medical-surgical units as well as in home care. I have always been passionate about patient and birther autonomy, informed decision-making and dismantling systems of oppression, both personally and within the healthcare system. I have had the honor of co-moderating white affinity spaces, and continue to do that work in a virtual community space. I have always had the intention to continue my education to the masters level and become a Certified Nurse Midwife, which I am perpetually pondering pursuing in the near future. In the meantime, I have always stayed extremely engaged in the birth world and am very excited to offer my services to you. I am also working on a new podcast and will share more soon!
at your service!
Richelle currently lives and works on a family macadamia nut farm on Moku o Keawe (aka the big island of Hawai’i) along with her partner, six children, three cats and one little dog. Although she currently relies on the school system, she is an unschooler at heart and will always be learning, growing & decolonizing. She enjoys writing, dancing and spending time in nature. You can find her on Instagram @down.to.earth_birth.and.death