Today we’d like to introduce you to Sara Sterling.
Hi Sara, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
After noticing a gap in care for women while I cared for their babies as an Occupational Therapist in our local neonatal intensive care units (NICU), I started my solo birth coaching practice. Working with clients as a birth doula solidified my belief that I could impact birth outcomes and maternal mental health by preparing families for the birth and postpartum experience. Being present as a member of their birth team has been a crucial piece of the puzzle. After a few years, I leaped to expand the practice into a multidisciplinary collective of services to provide families with wrap-around support during the transition of birth along with all of the others we experience as women, including during perimenopause. I’ve since delegated most in-person birth support to the amazing Professional Birth Coaches I’ve welcomed onto the Nueva Vida team. This has allowed me to shift into a more clinical role offering pelvic floor therapy, education, and the wellness services I can provide as an Occupational Therapist. We now work collaboratively with each family and their medical team from pregnancy through the postpartum season to optimize the outcomes and quality of life in Northeast Florida.
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
There have been some bumps in the road, mostly due to the innovative nature of the practice. Birth support and pelvic floor therapy aren’t traditional practice areas for Occupational Therapists, and you don’t typically see the two areas in a setting together. There needs to be a road map or a local model for what I’ve envisioned, which has given me so much freedom to be creative. But, the logistics of building the business have come with a steep learning curve. Overall, it’s been a challenging and beautiful experience.
Let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Nueva Vida Pelvic Floor Therapy and Women’s Health Collective is a multidisciplinary practice offering supportive services to women around life transitions such as childbirth and perimenopause. We provide education, collaborative care with other medical team members, pelvic floor therapy, and elevated in-person birth support. Our birth support now includes pelvic floor prevention and therapeutic services for every client. We are known for our thorough and individualized care of every client, along with the collective level of experience and connections to the best providers in Northeast Florida. Nueva Vida is pioneering a new way of supporting women and maximizing the physical and mental health outcomes that desperately need to be improved.
Do you have any advice for those just starting?
I played minor for so long in the beginning stages of building the business. I wish I had spent time seeking connections with the most prominent players in my field. I also would have opened up a clinic space sooner. I wish I had recognized how exceptional my vision is and how much support I would have in the community if I just let it be known. I was afraid to make the big, scary choices that only delayed growth.
Pricing:
- $1900 Signature Birth Support
- $220 75-minute Pelvic Floor & Core Evaluation
- $120 60-Minute Pelvic Floor & Core Treatment Sessions
Contact Info:
- Website: https://nuevavidawomenshealth.com
- Instagram: @nueva.vida.womens.health
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nuevavidawomenshealth
- Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/sarasterlingot
Image Credits
Humble and Grace Photography and The Southern Citrus Branding and Media Co.
