I am a community-based, full spectrum doula who had been supporting pregnant folks since 1989, decades before I knew there was a such a thing as a doula. I am now an Advanced Certified Birth and Postpartum Doula, and approved as an Advanced Continuing Education Provider with DONA International.
With over 30 years as an educator, mentor, and researcher, I have a passionate commitment to educating and preparing pregnant people and their supporters for the year surrounding birth. In addition to being a working doula, I also train community-centered birth and postpartum doulas and teach a variety of advanced skills doula classes, including trauma-informed care and bodywork, especially pelvic floor balancing and release. For the last several years, I also have been teaching childbirth education and doula skills to nursing students.
I am additionally certified as a Lactation and Childbirth Educator, a Midwife's Assistant, and a Professional Aromatherapist. I am an accredited When Survivors Give Birth instructor and counselor, and hold a PhD in History. Before becoming a fulltime doula and having my children, I worked in academia. I have served on the DONA International Membership Team as an Ambassador, Regional Membership Chair (formerly Regional Director), and as the Director of Membership. I have served on the Education Committee as the Chair of the Continuing Education Committee, and on the Certification committee as a reviewer and the Director of Certification. I volunteer with ICAN and La Leche League as a peer counselor/group facilitator, and with the California Dept of Health Care Services as a stakeholder in the conversations around Doulas and Medicaid reimbursement.
Pronouns: she/her/they/them