The Story of my Mother

Sadly, my mother dealt with drug and alcohol addiction for most of her adult life. Suffice it to say that she was not expecting to get pregnant so it came as a pretty big shock to everyone involved.

It is already very challenging to be a parent, and it is definitely extra challenging if parenting is not something you necessarily wanted to do. She coped with some of her daily struggles by abusing drugs and alcohol pretty severely.

Thankfully, she entered a residential drug and alcohol treatment center when I was about 6 years old. She lived there for several months and began taking serious steps to get sober. Through that program, plus very regular AA meetings, she was fortunate to maintain her sobriety for the rest of her life.

Because I have this perspective, I take pride in serving what some doulas may consider more “non-traditional” parents or “alternative” family structures. I appreciate that there are many different ways to be a parent and that all parents are deserving of respectful care.

This is one of the main reasons that I have studied (and continue to study) harm reduction care and why I also feel that it is important to work towards reducing the stigma against parents who may use drugs.