Bethany Houser is giving birth to a new business model in the Flathead Valley. Originally from Scotland, Houser launched Bee’s Birth & Doula in January to serve expecting parents in Whitefish, Columbia Falls and Kalispell.

“A doula is basically a trained professional who comes alongside expecting mothers,” Houser explained. With her doula service, Houser plans to offer individualized support for parents before, during and after pregnancy.

Houser is uniquely qualified to take on the demands associated with a new child in the family. In Scotland, Houser always had a passion for medical care because she watched her older sister pursue medicine. Serving on a mission trip to Ethiopia sparked Houser’s interest in using medical knowledge as a service to others.

With these motivations in mind, Houser applied herself to become a midwife in the United Kingdom. A midwife, Houser explained, takes on a more medical role in assisting with pregnancy compared to the comfort and emotional care typically provided by a doula.

Houser graduated from University of the West of Scotland with a bachelor’s of science honors degree in midwifery in 2018. After graduation, Houser worked in a hospital, rotating through the antenatal, labor and postpartum wards. She delivered more than 100 babies as the primary midwife.

But her career took an unexpected turn when Houser participated in a mission training program with Youth with a Mission in Lakeside. There, she met her husband Matthew and decided to uproot her life so she could join him in Montana.

Relocation ended up coalescing well with Houser’s goals for her business, because she saw a need for pregnancy support in the Flathead’s growing population.

“That highlighted to me the need in the valley,” Houser recalled.

She was drawn to the role of doula, a variation on her previous training that seemed to fill the gap she saw in pregnancy care. Houser joined the valley’s Postpartum Resource Group, which serves women with pregnancy-related mood disorders such as postpartum depression, and became trained as a doula through that organization.

Now, she offers four different doula packages tailored to each family’s individual situation. One option is called “Bun in the Oven,” and it includes prenatal visits, on-call service, personalized labor support and two postpartum visits.

Another option is known as “Mama’s Spice,” which involves a higher frequency of more in-depth care before the birth, as well as afterwards. Extended childbirth education is a feature of this comprehensive package.

“Postpartum Nest” focuses primarily on life after giving birth, with one prenatal visit and two or three postpartum appointments.

Finally, Houser also offers an exclusive “Childbirth Education” option which encompasses the physiology of pregnancy, a discussion of childbirth and pain relief options, as well as opportunities for conversations about concerns and hopes for the birth. Houser said this package can be especially calming for the partners of people giving birth.

No matter which package a mother selects, Houser said choosing to work with a doula is a decision that “brings a lot of peace and ease into a time that is super vulnerable for a lot of people.”

For more information about Bee’s Birth & Doula, visit www.doulamt.com or call 406-249-6022.