With over 30 years as an educator, mentor, and researcher, and more than a decade as a doula, 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. I also have been teaching childbirth education and doula skills to nursing students for the past several years.
I am certified as a Birth and Postpartum Doula, Lactation and Childbirth Educator, and Midwife's Assistant, as well as an accredited When Survivors Give Birth instructor and counselor. I am also a Certified Professional Aromatherapist and hold a PhD in History, and formerly worked in academia before having my children and switching course to become a doula. I have served on the DONA International Membership Team as an Ambassador, Regional Membership Chair (formerly Regional Director), and as the Director of Membership, West. I have also served on the Education and Certification committees as the Chair of the Continuing Education Committee and as Director of Education. I also 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