Dr. Alecia Fields has experienced pregnancy and birth from nearly every angle: as a doula, a medical student, an OB-GYN, and a parent. Each role has offered its own lessons, but together they have shaped a singular perspective — rooted in the belief that birth is not only a medical event, but a deeply human one.

Long before she entered medical school, Fields was already exploring reproductive health through a wide lens. In undergrad, she designed an interdisciplinary major drawing from sociology, anthropology, gender studies, and advocacy. She wanted to understand pregnancy not just biologically, but socially and culturally. That curiosity led her to shadow a midwife and work as an administrative assistant at BabyMoon, a community-based prenatal space offering yoga, massage, childbirth education, and connections to local doulas.

She absorbed everything. She listened to families share their birth stories — some empowering, others deeply painful. “The stories about births that were supported by a doula were always the most empowering,” she recalls.

At the same time, Fields was applying to medical school. She knew she wanted to practice medicine, but she also knew she wanted to offer something traditional healthcare often lacked: presence, advocacy, and emotional support. Training as a doula felt like the bridge. She completed her certification through DONA International and spent her undergraduate years providing volunteer doula care for families who needed it. “It taught me how to listen, how to hold space, and how to advocate — skills I bring into every birth I attend as a physician.”

As her career evolved, Fields found herself inhabiting multiple roles at once. As a doula, she witnessed the power of emotional support. As a doctor, she learned how quickly care can become consumed by numbers and protocols. And as a patient herself, she felt the vulnerability in her own body. “Pregnancy and birth strip you down in every way,” she shared, “physically, mentally, and emotionally.”

That vulnerability became especially real during her pregnancies. Fields carried immense knowledge — but knowledge alone didn’t quiet her anxiety. During her third pregnancy, that something shifted. Confidence, not just information, became the foundation of her experience.

“As a parent, confidence really shows up as self-love and knowing your worth,” she explained. “It wasn’t until I truly started caring for myself — not just physically, but emotionally — that I began to believe in my own worth and capacity.”

That internal shift changed everything. She rested when she needed to. She spoke up for herself. She made decisions from clarity instead of fear.

As a provider, she sees confidence reflected in patients who arrive ready to participate in their care “with their lists of questions, ready to be part of the conversation,” she says. “That kind of collaboration — when patients feel empowered to participate — is where the magic happens. It turns healthcare into true care.”

That sense of partnership begins with trust, something Fields believes is built through simple but intentional actions. “It really starts with something simple: sitting down and listening,” she says. “So much of what patients remember about their care isn’t the diagnosis or the treatment plan — it’s how they were made to feel in the room.”

For Fields, shared decision-making isn’t about removing expertise — it’s about balancing it with curiosity and humility. When clinicians listen first and seek to understand what matters most to the person in front of them, care becomes collaborative rather than directive.

Yet Fields is keenly aware that the healthcare system doesn’t always make space for this kind of care — particularly for patients facing socioeconomic and systems-driven barriers. She saw patients leave appointments still feeling anxious or unsure, with little guidance between visits. That gap — the space where fear and questions live — is what inspired her to create the digital health education and support platform DoulaDoc. Through video lessons, guided exercises, and advocacy tools, it helps people prepare for appointments and engage more fully in their care.

“My hope is that it helps turn pregnancy from something overwhelming into something empowering,” she shares.

Balancing this work requires holding both science and softness at once. Fields doesn’t see evidence and compassion as opposing forces. “The more I practice, the more I realize that science and compassion aren’t opposites; they actually strengthen each other,” she says.

Her approach is rooted in trust. She brings data, evidence, and medical expertise to the table, while honoring that patients are the experts in their own lives. “At the end of the day, I’m not the main character in their story — they are,” she says. Her role is to support, inform, and walk beside them as they make decisions aligned with their values.

That philosophy also shapes how she views the long-standing tension between hospital systems and the doula world. Fields has witnessed the eye rolls and resistance that can surface when doulas or detailed birth plans enter hospital spaces, and she’s felt that tension herself as an OB-GYN stepping into rooms where trust is already fragile. “These closed doors don’t just exist — they were made,” she says, pointing to cultural norms and gaps in medical education that reinforce a single view of birth. She believes the bridges we need are built through openness, collaboration, and mutual respect — when clinicians and doulas work as partners, to provide not just safe care, but whole care.

For readers, Fields hopes her story serves as a reminder of worth. “You are worthy and valuable and deserve to be treated with respect,” she says. Her own journey has been shaped by self-doubt and people-pleasing, but something shifted during her third pregnancy when she began to truly believe in herself. “The more love and compassion I give myself,” she explains, “the more I’m able to give to my patients.”

For birthworkers, her message is just as clear. This work is powerful and beautiful, but also demanding. It heals systems and repairs generational wounds — but only if those doing the work are cared for, too. “Rest. Seek out joy. Stay curious,” she says. “And never forget that your work — and you — matter deeply.”

In a system that often prioritizes efficiency over empathy, Dr. Alecia Fields is helping build something different — care that honors science without losing sight of humanity, and support that empowers people to trust themselves in one of life’s most transformative moments.

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