Giving birth is one of the most intimate and powerfully transforming experiences for a woman and her family. Supporting them in this journey of pregnancy, the wonder of childbirth and the beauty of integrating their new little one into their lives is truly an honor.
LET'S CONNECT
What I do as a doula is, in many ways, what I have been doing my entire life. For as long as I can remember, I have had an innate desire to mother and care for babies. I can remember being in awe of babies when I was six years old, begging to help in the nursery at church. I grew into being a mother’s helper at a young age, babysitter, church volunteer, daycare teacher, and nanny. Eventually, I was excited to support friends in their pregnancy, birth and postpartum, gave birth to my own three babies, and was able to be a birth and postpartum doula for my daughter. It has been a constant theme in my life to be focused on loving and caring for babies and their families.
Since the age of 20, I have worked in various medical environments, providing comfort and safety for people as they navigated getting the care they needed for their bodies. Having worked at Virginia Mason Medical Center for 25 years, I know how to create a safe environment, support and ease for women in vulnerable moments when they need it the most. In 2021, I officially became a birth and postpartum doula at the Simkin Center for Allied Birth Vocations at Bastyr. Being able to combine these passions, to serve families as they experience one of the greatest miracles of life, is what makes me feel alive. It is what I believe I was created for.
I have lived in the Seattle area all my life. I have been married almost 30 years. I have two grown children who are married, a 14-year-old son and an adorable little grandson. My favorite times are when we can be all together.
I am committed to helping mothers feel supported, be heard and empowering them to do what they were created to do. I am also excited to help families create a smooth transition into their new life together with their newborn. Giving birth is one of the most intimate and powerfully transforming experiences for a woman and her family. Supporting them in this journey of pregnancy, the wonder of childbirth and the beauty of integrating their new little one into their lives is truly an honor.
With this second child, we weren't sure whether we wanted to use a doula again, as we did with our first. But, we went for it, since it was so helpful the first time. And, it was the best decision we could have made. Monica Croonquist was such a supportive and essential presence ahead of, during, and after the birth. She made not only my experience, but also my husband's, so much more joyful and so much less stressful. We're so happy that we found Expecting Joy so we could have Monica as our doula.
Anne Petty
Monica was our postpartum doula for the first 11 weeks of our son's life, and our time with her was so precious. She took such loving care of our baby while we caught up on much needed sleep. Overall, she made our transition into new parenthood so much smoother, and is just a lovely person to boot. We miss her a bunch, and still send updates from time to time.
Expecting Joy made the whole process very smooth by matching us with Monica, and providing a simple way to pay and keep track of invoices. All in all it was a terrific experience. Our little family highly recommends them 🙂
Samantha Muscat-Scherr
We've reached out to Expecting Joy when we were looking for a sibling doula to watch our almost 5 year old child while we would be at the hospital delivering our second baby. We were looking for a guarantee that someone will be with our oldest son, day or night, for as long as it would be necessary (through labor, delivery and first hours postpartum until my husband would be able to go back home). Expecting Joy did not formally offer sibling doula services but they didn't deny my request and promised to circulate it around their doulas to see if anyone would be interested to work with us. That's how we connected with Monica, and she's been a lifesaver for us. She came out to meet our son almost 2 months ahead of our due date. She have checked in with us regularly and offered support and encouragement in every communication. Our delivery was scheduled as an induction and leaving Monica with our oldest went very smoothly. In our absence she's kept our son's routine and supported him through this transition. She brought him a short book about becoming a big brother and helped him feel calm and at ease. That night was difficult for him and he cried for quite a while (our son has anxiety) and she stayed by his side reassuring him that everything would be okay. The delivery went well but unfortunately there were complications afterwards and my husband had to stay with me and the baby at the hospital through the next day and the following night, while Monica took our son to his preschool and then picked him back up at the end of the day and continued taking care of him. At such a stressful time Monica was a lifesaver giving us a peace of mind that there was someone caring and trustworthy to take care of our oldest son. She also helped prepare our son to our return with the baby, showed him baby's pictures and set the right expectations. When we got back I was exhausted and didn't shower in 3 days, Monica offered to look after the baby while I took a few minutes for myself and could settle in back home. Since then Monica has come out to our home again a few weeks later to take care of both the older son and the baby for a few hours and she was great with both of them (she had easily handled baby's feeding, changing and settling him for a nap). Monica is a very kind, caring and nurturing person, and she's been very supportive throughout our entire journey. I would strongly recommend her to anyone looking for a postpartum doula.
Nadia Tkach
Having my first baby was both a beautiful and daunting experience. From all the conflicting opinions of different doctors, different belief systems and all the information available on the internet at your fingertips, it can be hard to know what’s right for you and your baby in any given situation. Monica was instrumental in the success of my pregnancy and the birth of my son. From just being her kind, thoughtful, and encouraging self when I had doubts or questions, to really stepping up as my advocate in the delivery room when things were moving quickly (and even when they weren’t, as it so often happens with inductions), I honestly don’t know how I would have made it through without her experience and knowledge to help me make the best, most educated decisions I could for my baby.We are now expecting our second child, and I am so grateful to have Monica as a resource and guide this time around as well. 10/10 would recommend!
Rachel Royal
Monica is fantastic! She is knowledgeable, thoughtful, communicative. She helped us with overnights in those early newborn weeks when sleep feels almost unattainable.
Ellen Pepin-Cato
