Hey there, I’m sarah!
Hello! It is such a pleasure to meet you. My name is Sarah Southards and I am the owner of Heritage Consulting STL. I focus on providing support, empowerment, advocacy, and education, to nurture families through their preconception journey into birth, and through the fourth trimester. I specialize in in-hospital, high risk birth, VBAC, birth after infertility or loss, and bereavement, but I offer my services to all women and families across the Saint Louis metro area, and I look forward to supporting you!
I offer individualized support starting with (in)fertility, birth, and postpartum, as well as offering services to families grieving miscarriages, stillbirth, and the unexpected loss of their precious child. I have classes available for both parents and birth professional peers.
As an accomplished doula with over a decade of specialized training including Stillbirthday, PAILAdvocate, Maternal Mental Health NOW, Bebo Mia, Birth Monopoly, and Evidence Based Birth; and experience assisting several hundred families, my goal is to give you and your family the attention, support, and knowledge you need to make informed decisions on your unique journey.
I am a loss mom and a rainbow mom myself after primary and secondary infertility, so I pull from my own knowledge, experience, and training, as a doula; and my own experiences as a mother, to better assist the families I serve.
Every pregnancy, every birth, every story, is unique. I look forward to learning yours and celebrating your strengths along the way.
Best wishes,
Sarah
“The family is one of nature’s masterpieces.” — George Satayana
Our ethos
I believe all life is sacred and a gift from God, and should be protected and celebrated as such. There is a unique power and energy shared by a mother and her unborn child. It is my honor and duty to protect this sacred force, shared by two (or more) souls sharing the same space.
Allowing birth to unfold as nature intended when there is no cause for medical interventions, ensures we minimize interruptions and decrease potential complications through the birth process.
When medical intervention is necessary, it is our duty to provide explanations in such a way that parents can be informed and give educated consent to what is happening in their birth story, protecting the physical and emotional health and wellbeing of all involved, and in a manner that minimizes risks and protects autonomy while honoring the mother/baby dyad, and those who support them.
All birth is beautiful and all babies deserve to be celebrated, including those little ones who do not get to stay with us long enough or who we do not get to meet earth side, with dignity and love.
Postpartum, parenting, and the challenges it brings, should be filled with unbiased, "meet you where you are", biologically aware, parent/baby centered, support and education. I look forward to watching you grow and flourish!
“A mother is always the beginning. She is how things begin.” — Amy Tan
our history
I'm so excited that you are here and I look forward to getting to know you, while sharing about myself and the services I offer to our vibrant community!
I originally started out offering (in)fertility and bereavement doula support in 2010, after the tragic and unexpected loss of my first child during the second trimester. Over the years, I have expanded to prenatal, birth, and postpartum doula support. I also offer newborn care classes, childbirth education, babywearing education, peer lactation support, and biologically normal infant sleep education.
I have taken many specialized trainings, including a special focus on high risk pregnancies, infertility treatments, bereavement support, how to be a trauma informed and aware support professional, additional training on mood disorders and how they affect pregnancy, birth, and the fourth trimester; and vaginal birth after Cesarean (VBAC). In addition, I am a Birth Monopoly and Evidenced Based Birth professional member, to advocate for you to receive the highest level of care available, while staying up to date on the most recent research and how it affects your birth rights.
I have made the personal decision to not certify with any one organization, as I wish for the professional freedom to support the families I serve exactly how they need me, without any restraints or restrictions. This allows me to focus on helping families exactly how they need it, instead of how an organization dictates its.
I believe that every family deserves the right tools and support to have a fulfilling experience through their parenting journey. I specialize in hospital settings, but I support birth center and home births as well! Where you choose to welcome your baby is where I will be.
It is my honor to provide unbiased, evidence based, education and options, to the families I serve. Everyone’s path looks so different and it is unique to every individual family, so I thoroughly support and encourage finding the perfect doula and support person for your journey. I look forward to seeing how I fit into yours and sharing this experience with you!