[ep 082] Emma Devin on the meaning of family & reshaping familial structures

Emma Devin is, quite simply, magical. Welcoming and funny, they have a gift for transmuting your energy into a more peaceful state the moment they give you a hug. The cofounder of Brood, Western Canada’s largest doula agency, Emma is trailblazing in the care industry and helping redefine familial structures and what family can mean.

They were born in Paris, France, to parents that—as they say—have “itchy feet”. Before high school, they had transferred to 10 different schools and lived in France, the UK, and the east coast of North America. Eventually, they went to high school in Vancouver but a week before graduation, their parents moved onto a boat with a plan of sailing the world. Emma took a gap year with them, sailing down the coast of Mexico, to Hawaii and more, before coming back to be in Victoria and go to university. It didn’t agree with them, however, and they ended up going to Pacific Rim College instead, becoming a certified doula and caregiver. This time of life wove together all the innate parts of themself: a deep love and care for—and creating and welcoming—new families.

After this, they worked at a local doula agency providing birth and postpartum care, before buying the business in 2019 and rebranding it to Brood Care Inc. with co-founders Gillian Damborg and Lizzy Karp, who had formerly been two of their clients. In 2021, first year out of the gates, Emma doubled the team size and the company was profitable. Inspired by LGBTQIA2S+ families in their community, Brood has emerged at the forefront of family caregiving, a tech-enabled learning platform and in-person care service for pregnancy, birth, postpartum care and new parenthood with a focus on millennial/Gen-Z families.

In this conversation, we explore their nomadic childhood; the difference between a doula and midwife; what the concept of family means to them and how the different systems can look like; how they built their own incredible chosen family; the effects on the pandemic on birth & postpartum care; what emotions they feel when witnessing a baby’s arrival into the world; how a “yes” decision feels in their body; reconciling with their life journey through this work; and much more.

[TIMESTAMPS]

6:39 - Growing up

10:04 - Having a nomadic childhood

12:12 - Where their interest in family structure originated

13:22 - What living on a ship taught them

15:33 - Why they chose to be a doula

18:25 - The difference between a doula and a midwife

20:49 - What being a doula taught them about themselves and others

26:02 - The genesis of Brood

35:21 - Care of expecting & postpartum mothers and what needs improvement in the healthcare system

43:19 - What family means

50:14 - The most important first question to ask clients starting a family

52:53 - What brings them joy

55:09 - How they feel when a baby is born 

57:16 - What a ‘yes’ feel like in their body

1:00:18 - A reconciliation journey through being a doula 

1:01:19 - What they want their chosen family to know 

1:02:40 - Final question

1:03:46 - Where to find them

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