Letitia Annamalai

Letitia Annamalai

she/her
Location: Victoria
Focus: Birth and Postpartum Doula
Language: English, French, Spanish

Vannakam, namaste- I am a mother and a full spectrum doula on Lekwungen (Songhees and Esquimalt) traditional, unceded homelands (Esquimalt, BC). I am fluent in English, with intermediate level French and Spanish. I am a beginner learner of Hindi, Swahili and Tamil. 

One of my favourite photos from childhood is of my great grandmother Puljari Domun lighting a lobaan fire to help clear out my newborn lungs while massaging and stretching out my limbs and muscles with warmed mustard oil. These ancestral birth and postpartum traditions were carried across the oceans as seeds and stories by my great great grandmothers on their journeys from Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Bihar to the sugarcane plantations on the Kwazulu coastlines of South Africa where they survived, thrived and helped birth new generations. Aunties, grandmothers and neighbours were our first midwives and doulas since time immemorial- holding us through contractions, preparing healing teas and nourishing meals, reminding us of our autonomy and strength, breathing with us, holding space, taking care of the older kids, doing what needed to be done. Growing up in a close knit extended family has shaped the way I walk in the world and how I show up for community. I emigrated to Canada as a youth, completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Women Studies at UVic, and went on to work in community as a Newcomer Support Worker and Program Coordinator for Immigrant and Refugee youth and women, as well as in sexualized violence prevention, harm reduction programming, and in arts-based facilitation across the country. I am grounded in trauma informed care, and use a strength based approach. I am open and curious to create a culturally affirming birth experience for you. 

I am someone who cares deeply about uplifting and caring for Indigenous and racialized communities, and supporting young parents, low income parents, survivors of violence, and Queer and Trans families. I am sensitive to the unique needs of families who have experienced pregnancy loss and infertility.