About
It's nice to meet you!
I'm Laura Hochban, the doula and owner behind Womb of One's Own!
If you would have told me ten years ago that I would be a doula one day, I never would have believed you! Little did I know that the path I was walking was already leading me to the doula life.
A lifelong feminist and advocate for gender equality, I began my career as an academic researching social and cultural relationships between gender, the body, and well-being. I was fascinated by this work, but academia left me feeling unfulfilled and disconnected from my community.
While volunteering as a pregnancy options counselor, I saw firsthand the wide variety of experiences that can accompany a pregnancy: joy, relief, and excitement, but also fear, anxiety, and uncertainty. In providing care and support for people in transformative and vulnerable times, I knew I had found my calling.
I volunteer as a doula with Mothercraft Ottawa, as a Pregnancy Options Counsellor with Planned Parenthood Ottawa, and haved served as Board Chair for Community Doula Access.
If you feel that you could benefit from having a support person, feel free to say hi through the Contact page. I can't wait to get to know you!
Why "Womb Of One's Own"?
I named my doula practice after the essay "A Room of One's Own" by Virginia Woolf. Her essay argues that certain groups of people cannot thrive creatively when they are denied the freedoms and privileges that are enjoyed by other groups (in her case, the marginalization of women writers in a literary world dominated by men).
"Womb of One's Own" echoes Woolf's call for freedom and autonomy. My practice is devoted to empowering you to determine your own path in life, to thrive in your body on your own terms, and to make your own reproductive choices.
Certifications & Education
Birthing Advocacy Doula Training (trained, not certified)
Full Spectrum Doula
Doula Canada (trained, not certified)
Labour & Birth Doula
Canadian Red Cross (2021)
Standard First Aid & CPR/AED
Canadian Red Cross (2021)
Psychological First Aid
Yokrville University (in progress)
Master of Arts, Counselling Psychology
Carleton University (2017)
Master of Arts, Gender & Body History
Professional Development & Training
Birthing Advocacy Doula Trainings (2023)
Racism & Privilege in Birthwork Part I
Holistic Abortions (2022)
Holistic Abortion Support Training
Birthing Advocacy Doula Trainings (2022)
Domestic Violence and Intimate Partner Violence Preparedness for Birth Workers
Cornerstone Doula Trainings (2022)
Eliminating Stigma Against People Who Use Drugs
Abortion Support Services Atlantic (2021)
Trauma-Informed Abortion Support
Doula Canada (2021)
Diverse Families & Perinatal Support
Mothercraft Ottawa (2019)
Birth Companion Training
Planned Parenthood Ottawa (2018)