Jae is a birth worker, military spouse, mother of four, and passionate advocate for maternal health. As the president of the Doula Services Association of British Columbia, she is working to make birth and postpartum care more accessible while helping families feel seen, supported, and empowered. Through her own experiences with PTSD, postpartum anxiety and depression, military sexual trauma, and raising a child with complex medical needs, Jae has learned that asking for help is not weakness. It's one of the bravest forms of healing. Read on to discover how she's breaking cycles of self-sacrifice, stigma around mental health, and redefining what strength looks like.
How do you define a "Cycle Breaker?"
Someone who realizes that what they’ve been taught, exposed to, learned, experienced is not what all that defines them. It’s about learning how to be the best version of yourself for those who matter the most to you.
It’s pulling apart those pieces and finding what works for you.
What adversities or experiences have you lived through?
- Racial discrimination
- First generation Canadian
- Mother of 4
- Sexual assaults in the military
- Moving plenty of times and picking up again being a military member and spouse
- PTSD
- PPA and PPD
- Mom of a cardiac baby
- Policy changes in the Canadian government (breastfeeding friendly spaces, free menstrual product availability, nursing friendly shirts for uniforms, community building for military mothers).
What is a cycle, belief or pattern you’ve worked to break or challenge in your life?
That medicine isn’t a bad thing, sometimes we need it to help us become the best versions of ourselves for us and for our loved ones. That family doesn’t mean they always have your best interest at heart.
What helped you begin healing, growing, or changing that cycle?
When I was diagnosed with my PTSD in 2020 was where I realized I needed healing, to grow and to change the cycle I was stuck in.
Seeking therapy, medicine, actually playing with my children and putting that first over dishes in the sink, laundry on the floor…
What are your proudest accomplishments?
My children will always be my proudest and most greatest accomplishments.
Is there a message, quote, lesson, or reminder you’d like to share with others who may be struggling along their healing journey?
That things do get better and sometimes that uncomfortable feeling is a sign of growth.
You have to put yourself first so you can be the mother your children need and the wife your spouse needs too.
Do you have any projects you're working on that you'd like to highlight?
Yes, I’m the president for the Doula Services Association of BC and I’m working on integrating doulas more into the hospitals. As well, learning more of the Indigenous birth & postpartum culture to help more families.
Connect with Jae:
• Instagram: @leadwithmotherhood + @thebabydaysco