Stephanie Nalley, SBD

Certified Birth & Bereavement Doula® serving Hagerstown, Maryland

Email: StephanieNalley.SBD@stillbirthday.com

Certified in Psychological First Aid

I am a baby loss mom. My firstborn son, Bentley Charles Nalley, was born still at 38 weeks gestational age due to a nuchal cord x3 around his neck. My world was turned completely upside down when I lost Bentley. In those moments of my darkest hours, I knew that Bentley’s life still had such a meaning and purpose, and he was given to me for a reason. I may not have understood why this was happening, but I knew in the midst of the chaos that God was standing still. Shortly after losing Bentley, my husband and I began pregnant with our rainbow baby who we delivered sucessfully on August 7, 2012, just 10 months after Bentley was born. Whereas life still didn’t make sense, and I was thankful for the miracle baby that God had given us, I knew I wanted to help the next mom. I wanted to take my heartache and grief and continue to give Bentley’s life a meaningful purpose. And, so I started a local support group in Hagerstown, MD, and I looked into beginning to obtain my doula certification. I am currently striving to be someone who can help honor our babies gone too soon and cherish their memory forever. I may have had to say hello and goodbye in the same meeting, but I cherish those moments forever, and I want to help someone else cherish their moments, even in their darkest hour.

Discover what the SBD credentialed doula has achieved.

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BIRTH & BEREAVEMENT QUOTES

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She was a genius of sadness, immersing herself in it, separating its numerous strands, appreciating its subtle nuances. She was a prism through which sadness could be divided into its infinite spectrum.

— Jonathan Safran Foer, Everything Is Illuminated

No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear.

— C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed

I am strong.

— January, founder of Birth Without Fear

When someone you love dies, and you’re not expecting it, you don’t lose her all at once; you lose her in pieces over a long time—the way the mail stops coming, and her scent fades from the pillows and even from the clothes in her closet and drawers. Gradually, you accumulate the parts of her that are gone. Just when the day comes—when there’s a particular missing part that overwhelms you with the feeling that she’s gone, forever—there comes another day, and another specifically missing part.

— John Irving, A Prayer for Owen Meany

They say time heals all wounds, but that presumes the source of the grief is finite.

— Cassandra Clare, Clockwork Prince

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BECOME A DOULA!

Enroll now in the Birth & Bereavement Doula® program!

We onboard enrolled students into the program by email invitation.

After tuition, you can email heidi.faith@stillbirthday.com directly to expedite this step. Alternatively, if you prefer fb communications, you can join us in Admissions.