By SGN | 30 April 2021
Q1
Tell us a bit about yourself – what brought you to the U.S.?
I am an Asian doula and photographer based in Oakland, California for the past seven years. I have two kids aged 3 & 5 and another one on the way. Seven years ago, as a newly married young couple in Singapore, my husband and I decided to have more adventure in our lives and wanted to experience living elsewhere for a change. On a whim, he suggested California and before we knew it, we got our visas and booked our tickets, and found our home in Oakland.
Q2
What does a typical day as an Asian doula look like?
First, let me explain what a doula is. Doulas provide physical, emotional, and informational support for the birthing person and their birth team (spouses/partners/kids) throughout the pregnancy, birth, and postpartum journey. Doulas are not midwives because we don’t conduct anything medical. While most people hire doulas for their extensive birth knowledge, any person can be chosen as a doula – sister, best friend, cousin, mother, or aunt.
I refer to myself specifically as an Asian doula as I focus my support on people like myself, immigrants or Asian Americans who find themselves caught between Eastern culture and traditions, and Western society. Most of my clients are Asians, and I offer a more cultural approach with my services, like confinement or zuo yuezi (坐月子) in postpartum. I’m also very skilled in communicating with Asian parents who often have an opinion on how things should or shouldn’t be done! I spend a lot of time building client relationships, sharing the birthing process, and understanding their birth vision. I attend all kinds of births – home, hospital, and birthing centers. It’s a very intimate and hands-on job during labour, I’m either massaging, gently touching or squeezing hands throughout the whole labour process.
I’m usually on-call during pregnancy weeks 37-42, which means during that period, I have to be ready at a moment’s notice when a client calls to tell me they are in labour! I support them from the moment they call me in until the baby is born, and this can take anywhere between 5 and 24 hours.
Q3
What keeps you going on the journey?
For others who want to work in the film and television industry, don’t get into this for the glitz and glamour, because it’s a hard road ahead and fame shouldn’t be your guiding motivation to stay in this business. The most successful and fulfilled people I’ve met in this industry are people who do it for the love of storytelling. And that ties back to the best career advice I’ve gotten – if you’re a storyteller, you press forward no matter what is holding you back. There’s more to the industry than being a famous actor, director or producer – it’s a massive, nuanced craft and every person in it is a skilled storyteller in their own right, so if you have the opportunity to, try out every path in this industry and find what you love about storytelling, find out what your heart needs to share with the world and dream bigger than you think you’re allowed to.
Q4
What do you do to relax?
My family and I enjoy being outdoors a lot, and we are so blessed that the Bay Area offers many great hiking and beach options that are just a stone’s throw away. I really love spending time with my family exploring new spaces, or just being together. When I have time to myself, I enjoy crafting, sewing or just Netflix and chill. I once sewed almost 50 capes to raise funds for kids held in detention centers. We raised over $2,000 and it was worth it, but I swore never to sew another cape after that.
Q5
How do you stay connected to Singapore?
Being Singaporean, food is life. Before the pandemic, my family and I would return to Singapore at least once a year. My Godma taught me how to cook some of my favourite Peranakan dishes, and when I have time, I like to cook up a storm. Being pregnant, I miss all the local foods and try to cook as much as I can. Some of my kids’ favourites are bak kut teh (I add daikon), tau you bak and kueh kueh like onde onde and rainbow kueh lapis sago! But thank goodness for folks like Da Bao Singapore and Mama Judy for their great cooking skills, their food brings me back to Singapore.
Specialising in family, maternity, newborn and birth photography, Cherie is happy to offer an exclusive 15% discount for SGN members on photography services. Reach out by email and mention “SCOOP”.
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