“Birth Is About Surrender”: How Doula Melissa Davies Is Changing the Conversation Around Pregnancy, Pain, and Faith
Australia is roughly 9,355 miles away from Wenatchee, a journey that takes more than 24 hours of travel and multiple layovers. But that long road led Melissa Davies, her husband, and their four boys right here to the Valley — and thank God for that. Since putting down roots, Melissa has poured into local moms and families as a trusted doula, even organizing events like the It Takes a Village fair that gathers the Valley’s best pregnancy and postpartum providers under one roof.
But Melissa wasn’t always a baby and mom whisperer. Her journey begins from a place of unfamiliarity. We were fortunate enough to sit down with Melissa, hear her story, and learn from her incredible journey—and now we get to share it with you.
The spark
If you’re reading this, you’re probably a mom. And if you’re a mom, you’re likely familiar with an OB/GYN’s office. And though we have some excellent providers in the Valley, many women still feel like something is missing in their care, especially during pregnancy and postpartum.
Melissa Davies felt the same. “There was so much information out there, but no one to sit with me face-to-face and help me process it all.”
In 2009 (and three children later), Melissa and her family were serving with YWAM (Youth With A Mission) in Australia when she joined a mission to Papua New Guinea. It was there she learned that 1 in 7 women in rural areas were dying in childbirth. “That statistic was not ok,” she says. “…life-saving support was just completely absent for some women.”
On top of that, her friends back home raved about their experiences with their doulas — one friend had her baby in the bathtub with the doula on the phone. The question came to her like a bolt of lightning: God, what do I do? How do I respond?
Fueled by her belief in birth as an incredible and natural process, touched by the lack of care for rural women, and inspired by her friends’ positive perspectives and true stories, Melissa set out to find the information and care she was looking for.
She became certified as a doula and began her journey of filling the gap for women in the land down under. But God put yet another question on her heart: Does doula support translate cross-culturally? Her answer was yes, and it became her life’s calling.
A call to go
After completing her doula studies and having her 4th baby, Melissa eventually found herself in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, volunteering in a maternity ward where up to 900 births could happen each month. “Women were laboring four to a bed, with no running water, no privacy,” she recalls. “But when I held their hands, looked them in the eyes, and whispered ‘You are strong’ in Swahili — something shifted. The nurses even said, ‘They don’t feel pain when you’re with them.’”
It was here that she learned being a doula doesn’t mean having all the right answers and all the bells and whistles — it’s more about simply being there for women and families. These experiences in the stark hospital chambers in rural Africa, combined with her nuts-and-bolts training during certification, shaped her perspective on childbirth and made her the doula she is today.
A new philosophy of birth
After years of training in everything from massage and body mechanics to placenta preparation and the Body Ready Method, Melissa has a deep toolbox. But her foundational belief is surprisingly simple: Birth is a normal physiological process.
“It’s not a medical event that sometimes happens physiologically — it’s a physiological process that sometimes needs medical help,” she says. “That’s a huge shift in mindset. Our current system often leads with fear because of liability, because of protocols, but birth isn’t designed to be controlled. It’s designed to be supported.”
For Melissa, that support includes the mind, body, and spirit. She believes pain isn’t something to fear, but to reframe. “Pain-free isn’t even the goal,” she explains. “Pain can be positive. It’s perception that matters. Birth is 100% mental and 100% physical.”
The doula difference
If you ask Melissa what a doula really does, she won’t rattle off credentials. She’ll say this: “We’re the person you call when your mind goes blank at the doctor’s office.”
Melissa sees herself as a bridge between information and intuition, between the medical world and the mom’s internal wisdom. “You can read every book and take every class, but it all goes out the window in labor. A doula is the one who brings you back to what you already know.”
She’s also a resource in the months leading up to birth. “Most doulas do prenatal sessions. We help you identify what you want, clarify what your provider said, and figure out how to get there. We’re not medical providers, but we help you ask the right questions.”
And yes, dads love doulas, too. “They don’t have to be the expert,” she laughs. “They just get to be present.”
What’s next?
Though Melissa has supported births around the world, she’s planted in the Wenatchee Valley for this season in her life. Her husband grew up in Orondo, and the couple met years ago through YWAM in Townsville, Australia.
Now raising their four sons here, she’s deeply invested in improving local maternal care. “There are some really great options for birth here in the Valley, and I love to help people find them and prepare for their birth.”
“That’s what she hopes her next adventure will do.
From holding a woman’s hand in Tanzania to walking Wenatchee moms through birth prep today, Melissa Davies has followed God’s call with courage and compassion. Now, after 15 years of birthing work across three continents, she’s choosing to invest her time and gifts in offering specialized birth preparation in the form of massage and bodywork, targeting pregnancy pain, breech births, and labor preparation.
Soon, she’ll be offering Body Ready Birth Classes among other offerings.
For the women of our community, that means more than information; it means having someone who will stand beside them, mind, body, and spirit, and remind them they’re not alone in the journey of motherhood.
From one side of the globe to the other, Melissa has set an incredible example of responding to God’s callings and the Holy Spirit’s promptings, and so many women have benefited.
Keep up with Melissa and her offerings online and on social media.
If you’re planning for a pregnancy, are currently pregnant, or postpartum, please check out our comprehensive guides and get the care you need!
