Kimberly Williams ripped open the envelope and frantically scanned the letter from the College of Nursing. Her excitement shifted to bitter tears as she dialed her mother’s number. When the phone call ended, Williams had a backup plan. She’d received a rejection letter from the nursing program in her hometown of Cleveland, so she would follow her mother’s advice and apply to Motlow State Community College in Tullahoma. With only a few short weeks before the fall semester began, Williams quickly scheduled an entrance exam. After completing the test, she was chosen from 230 applicants to enter the program.
Williams packed her belongings and moved to Bell Buckle. The day before classes began at Motlow, she received a phone call from the college in Cleveland.
“Why aren’t you in class today?” they asked. Williams explained about the letter of rejection, to which they replied, “You received that letter by mistake.”
Two months later, Williams met her husband, Jeremy. They have now been married for 20 years and have four children.
“There are no mistakes with God,” said Williams. “I wouldn’t have moved away from my friends, family, or left my church. God knew this about me and in His sovereignty, He had a letter sent to me that would change the course of my life forever. My husband and children are a direct result of my move to this area. I love my life here, and I am so thankful that, although things seemed bleak at the time, God had a plan for my life.”
Williams’ mother enrolled in college to become a respiratory therapist, and her stepfather enrolled in nursing school while she was growing up.
“I remember looking through their textbooks, and I fixated on the portions about pregnancy and childbirth. When I was 10, my mom became pregnant with my little brother. I was in awe of her pregnancy, and I was obsessed with him after he was born. I truly believe my calling is to take care of pregnant women and babies. God used my brother’s birth as a catalyst for my passion for pregnancy,” said Williams.
As a registered nurse, Williams spent 11 years working in labor and delivery caring for laboring moms. After she gave birth to her son, Judson, at 41, she chose to care for her family full time and homeschool her children.
“After seven years of being home, I had a strong desire to serve pregnant women again. This happened during the pandemic. I started noticing that more women were opting for home births and hiring doulas. I sat down one day, created a website, signed up for doula training, and my business, Growing Your Nest Birth Services, was born.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of home births increased in 2021 to the highest levels in 30 years.
“While I loved working in the hospital, I struggled with how medicalized birth is, especially now that I have experienced natural physiological birth in a calm setting. If I could change anything, it would be to decrease the number of nonmedical inductions of labor. I don’t think women realize how much it increases their risk for a C-section. I would also change the atmosphere in labor and delivery, making it less like a hospital for the sick and injured and more like a home environment. All pregnant women deserve a calm, peaceful environment to give birth to their baby.”
A doula advocates for the mother while also providing vital information and emotional support and helping relieve physical discomfort. According to Williams, statistics show that having a birth doula lowers a woman’s chances of undergoing a cesarean section (C-section) by 52.9%, reduces postpartum depression by 57.5%, and they are 31% less likely to receive Pitocin to speed up their labor.
“Doulas aren’t just for women seeking an unmedicated birth,” said Williams. “We can help even if you choose to have an epidural by providing education, comfort, movement, and advocacy. I also offer private or virtual childbirth options, newborn care, sibling classes, and postpartum support. If you’re interested in birth planning services or documenting your birth preferences, I offer that along with mentorship for other birth professionals and health care providers. I also host birth doula training workshops.”
Recently, Williams tallied the number of births she has assisted with and discovered that she has helped birth 25 males and 25 females! GN
