What is your name?
Natalie Krueger
Where do you work?
I am a stay-at-home mom who does birth work as a doula and postpartum support with Peaceful Miracles Birth Services.
What is your job?
I support other mamas during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum.
How many kids do you have and what are their ages?
We have one boy. He is 2.
What do you love about living in Nebraska?
I love the small-town community. There are a lot of areas nearby to do outdoor activities like fishing, hiking, and camping which we love.
What’s your favorite restaurant and/or place to shop?
My favorite restaurant is Franklin’s or Napolis, and I like to shop downtown. My hometown does not have many eating or shopping options, it’s small.
Tell us about your career.
As a birth worker I support women during a sacred time in their life. Becoming a parent is a pivotal moment of change. I offer a holistic, natural approach to pregnancy, birth, postpartum and mothering. I have on hand many resources to offer to expecting and new parents. The average pregnant person sees their OB for about 6 minutes per visit, and they come in only during pushing when the baby is about to be born. Then there is only one visit in the postpartum period. Women are lacking support. I offer in-person appointments that go much more in depth than just physical health and how they’re feeling, and then I am also available by text or call at any time during the pregnancy and during postpartum, 6-12 weeks depending on the choices they select for support.
Why did you decide to become a Doula?
After I had my son. We had a lot of issues during the postpartum period with breastfeeding, colic, and a dairy intolerance. My birth choices weren’t well-respected, and I realized that I went in expecting support to get me through labor, and the hospital-based system often doesn’t have the employees to be able to offer that type of support.
What’s the best thing about your job?
When women find their own strength in birth and tell me that this experience made them feel empowered. That they are satisfied with their birth and postpartum and feel like the received the support they needed. When women tell me they’re living on a “birth high” for hours or days after birth.
What hobbies do you enjoy?
Reading, hiking, camping, fishing, sewing
As hard as it is to find the time, what’s something you do just for yourself?
Yoga and coffee with friends
One thing people would be surprised to know about you…
I played clarinet in the marching band, peer tutored in Spanish, and was a lawyer on the mock trial team in high school.
How do you “balance” being mama and a business owner? Do you experience the dreaded “mom guilt”?
I have some control over how many clients I take and when. I’m also lucky to have a strong support system, so I know that when I’m away my son is still with family that he knows and I trust. I don’t feel guilt because I know what I am doing is what I’m meant to do. I know that we have worked hard to foster secure attachment and he trusts that I will always be back.
What is the best mom advice you’ve ever been given or the best advice you have for new moms?
Trust your instincts and intuition. Nothing will be stronger than the pull you feel in your gut for what is wrong and what is right and what your child needs. Don’t let outside family members, however well-meaning they might be, sway you in the decisions you know are right for your family. We have God-given instincts that take hold shortly after becoming a parent, no matter what the route to parenthood looked like for you. Trust them.
Want to get in touch with Natalie? Head to her Instagram account @peacefulmiraclesne to get in touch. Or check out her contact information on our New Mom section on our website.
