Rava Burke, founder of RavaWomb
A note from Rava, founder of RavaWomb
My life's purpose is to make a difference in the lives of families as this is where it all begins. Join me? I would love to guide you! You'll be supported to create daily and weekly practices to cultivate faith.
To elevate your confidence and your belief in yourself! That you will have what it takes to cope with the pain and intensity and challenges of childbirth, no matter where you birth or how you birth. Birth in the hospital with or without an epidural, a cesarean birth or birthing at home.
You will rediscover and learn to trust that innate ability - that is within you - to give birth, and to work within the current medical and hospital systems.
I wish you an incredible birth experience, Rava
Childbirth Educator
Rava Burke is a certified doula, childbirth educator, hypnotherapist, group facilitator, holistic counselor and meditation teacher. She is one of Canada’s leading maternity experts, childbirth educators and doulas, and is the founder of RavaWomb (formerly Maternus).
For about a decade Rava was strongly involved with Birthing From Within (BFW) including as an Advisor to new Mentors and Doulas training and certifying with BFW.
Rava used to have a different name: her married name "Nightengale" and then she chose herself a new first name, Rava, in 2019. So if you want to google her, google "Joanna Nightengale doula" (and she's not the Joanna Nightingale in the UK).
Her birth and doula training and certification comes from numerous sources including birth legends Michel Odent, M.D., CNM; Ina May Gaskin, Pioneer Midwife; Penny Simkin; Pam England, MSW, Midwife; and these birth training and certifying organizations: DONA, AAHCC, BFW.
In addition to her training in all things birth & parenting, Rava has also received training from dozens of meditation and spiritual teachers from around the globe and is a continual student, forever in "beginners mind", in the fields of NLP, relationship counselling and numerous types of meditation.
Pioneer Doula
Rava was one of the first doulas in Canada, before having a doula at your birth was even "a thing". She is Calgary's longest serving doula. In a recent interview she was asked about her decades of experience as a professional doula: "I have attended the births of approximately 555 babies, how blessed am I, right? Many of these births were of first-born children, so it has been such an honor to have also been a part of the birth of many "newborn mothers" and "newborn fathers". To be witness to their journeys, courage, tenacity and love has been a privilege.
"I attended births in hospital, at home and at birth centres with midwives and with doctors and some of the most amazing nurses. The majority of these were unmedicated vaginal births, including many many water births at home, some in hospital and at our local freestanding birth centre.
And also vaginal births with use of an epidural, induced labours, cesarean births, many VBACs (vaginal birth after cesarean), HBACs (home birth after cesarean), several twin births…just about any and every kind of childbirth you can imagine."
Mother to two sons and one surrobaby son
Rava is the mother of two sons, and one child she carried and birthed as a surrogate mother. She lives near the badlands and the Rocky Mountains in Canada and walks barefoot just about always and makes every physical thing around her beautiful whenever possible (yes, she's a Libra).
"When I gave birth I had very different experiences each time: I have given birth 3 times, to my two sons and also a third and final time as a surrogate.
First time: a hospital birth with spinal anesthesia in the O.R. and forceps; this was my first son's birth. The labour was great, the birthing part not so much. However, this was a gift as it led me to realize how I really could've benefitted from a wise woman at my side. And so I vowed to become that woman for others and my new life chapter as a mother began, and then two years later also as a doula and educator.
When my 2nd son was born we had planned a home birth with midwives, but did not plan it to be just his father and I. Shortest version of the story is I had been in labor all day, but his birth was not painful so when I was tired I went to sleep close to midnight, slept for 3 hours and woke up and caught my son in my hands as I half-squatted, half-knelt on our bathroom floor. It was wonderful, and again, the gift of realizing through my own experience how undisturbed normal physiologic birth is of prime importance. My 1st son was 9 1/2 lbs and my 2nd son was 9 lbs. and I always like to say the 4 minutes of pushing phase with my 2nd balanced out the 4 hours (!) with my 1st Lol (he was head down but not positioned correctly, that was the issue - not his size). I do laugh about that, but truly that also taught me so much about the importance of teaching all the things that can be done, and should be done, in pregnancy to position your baby well.
And my 3rd time birthing was when I gave birth to a couple's baby I carried for them as their surrogate and that was a water birth in the hospital with midwives, two doula-friends, the baby's parents and more friends - it was a full house! I wanted to birth at home again of course, however the baby's parents didn't hold the same faith I do, and so I birthed in hospital where they felt the most safe."