Black Butterfly Doula LLC

Supporting Bonds And Transforming Lives One Birth At A Time

By Terry L. Watson

Photos Provided by Charisse Montgomery

For the most part, a Doula is typically a woman employed to provide guidance and support to the mother of a newborn baby. For doula Charisse Montgomery, her goal is to do much more with her company, Black Butterfly Doula LLC.

Charisse shares she is supporting bounds and transforming lives with her services, one birth at a time. “My passion is supporting individuals from underserved and unheard populations who face barriers accessing doula services. In doing so, I hope to lessen the morbidity and mortality rates of birthing people who identify as people of color. As a doula, my main focus is on physical, emotional, and educational support during pre-pregnancy, pregnancy, labor, delivery, and the early postpartum period. I’m an advocate of the birth justice movement, which seeks to recognize inequalities and empower people of color in communities in the pregnancy and birthing process. I also have expanded my services to include family engagement, social service support, and patient advocacy. I also educate my clients on the difference between informed choice versus informed consent,” she says.

So who is Charisse Montgomery? First, she is a woman of God who is learning every day how to manifest the gifts He has given her. “I am grateful for the opportunity to create a legacy to honor God,” she says. Second, she is a wife of almost 28 years to her husband Kenneth and mother to three adult children, Fanshon, Meagon, and Kendall. She is also a “Gi Gi” to her granddaughter, Olivia.

Charisse says she has always felt the need to stand up for the underdog. She shares, “I have been in the position of mentor/ mama for as long as I can remember, helping to right the wrongs of those who were in need. I have lost and left a few jobs because I disagreed with the direction of those who sat in positions of power. Each experience has made me more inclined to help. My family motto is “Do what you have to do until you can do what you want to do”.

Charisse has worked in the health care field for over 25 years and holds a Bachelor of Science in Health Care Administration. She is licensed in Illinois and Missouri as a Pharmacy Technician and is currently working on becoming a certified lactation counselor. She is also a certified and licensed Realtor.

The idea of Black Butterfly Doula had been stirring within Charisse for years. She had unofficially performed some of the services as a doula with her family and friends for years. When her daughter announced the pregnancy of Charisse’s first grandchild three years ago, she says something inside of her lit up, and she knew she had to help guide her through every step of the birth experience.

Shortly after that experience, Charisse says her good friend, Sissy, told her that she would be great as a doula and should consider it as a profession. After that conversation, she says she did the research and signed up for a certification course to become a full-spectrum doula. After completing the course in November 2018, she filed an application for her LLC with the State of Missouri in January of the following year.

Charisse says she loves sharing information with her birthing persons and their families and watching them become empowered to create a birthing plan. She gets inspiration from three women; her maternal grandmother, Christine, her mother Bernadine, and her mother’s paternal cousin Patti. “The thought of making them proud inspires me the most. Each of them taught me the importance of leaving a good legacy for my family. I have also learned that walking in integrity, being a woman of good character, and having compassion with faith in God will supply what is needed to do the work handed to you,” she says.

There are different kinds of doulas. Pregnancy and birth doulas are just one of them. There are also postpartum doulas, abortion doulas, miscarriage doulas, and full-spectrum doulas. With each classification, challenges often present themselves. Charisse’s obstacles in business include waiting on legislation to be passed in Illinois to allow Medicaid funds to be used to pay for doula services. Most of her clients in the area she serves can’t afford to pay full price for her services. Charisse started a donation fund to supplement a portion of completed packages of her services based on an individual specific needs to address that matter. Another barrier she faces is getting the information out on what a doula is and how they support families in multiple ways. “Some people only think of doulas as a support system during active childbirth. We also offer pre-pregnancy support in the form of childbirth education,” she shares.

Moving forward, Charisse plans to build upon her business and become a doula instructor and trainer. She hopes to have Black Butterfly Doula LLC listed as a 501(c)3 and support her community from a holistic perspective. To learn more about Charisse and The Black Butterfly Doula, please visit her website.