Meet Our Portland Doulas

I went to massage school when I was only 20 years old and quickly realized my favorite clients were pregnant or new moms. The idea of a doula was introduced to me, but I wanted to focus on massage only, having not been a mother myself yet.

When my first child was born in 2015 I had the support of a Portland doula, and she was invaluable! I had a very satisfying, albeit long, birth, and it was a dream. I knew then the value of this work and I wanted to be a part of it but the time wasn’t right. I had my second, very different but equally lovely, birth in 2020 and a year later finally decided to make the move to do my training in early 2022. It’s been one of the best decisions of my life!

Giving birth is a transformative experience and should be treated with great honor. It is no walk in the park, but can be the most pivotal moment in a person’s life. I want to help to make it as satisfying as possible, in whatever way that looks like for the family. I believe advocacy and empowerment are what is needed to make it a positive experience, and it’s a privilege to help make that happen.

I birthed my son at home, and my daughter at a birth center. Both experiences were wonderful, amazing, exhilarating, and transcendental! I felt loved, supported, and celebrated by my midwives and doula. I came to realize, though, that my experience sadly was not the norm.

Many of the moms who shared their birth stories with me had very different, sometimes even traumatic, stories to tell. I knew in my heart that I wanted to make a difference in my birth community so I became a doula. I strive to make this difference by supporting expectant parents every step of the way, providing education on how wonderful birth can be, so they can give birth without fear!

I believe birth is a transformative experience, and my goal is to help families have a birth they can look back on as positive and empowering. I believe everyone deserves to be informed, supported, and truly heard throughout the birthing process. Knowing your options—including the risks, benefits, and alternatives—creates space for families to make decisions that feel right for them. Our bodies are capable of doing the incredible work of bringing new life into the world, and that deserves to be celebrated.

My interest in birth began while preparing for the birth of my first child in 2000, when I found myself reading everything I could get my hands on about birth, babies, and breastfeeding. But what truly inspired me to become a doula was my own experience being supported by an incredible Portland doula and midwifery team.

They helped me feel informed, empowered, and at ease, and made sure my partner felt included and supported too. That experience stayed with me through the births of our five children and sparked a desire to help other families feel that same sense of confidence and care. I trained as a doula in 2006 and quickly realized I had found the work I was meant to do!

“Support what arises” is my philosophy for birth (and maybe life, too). Birth can bring moments of stress, intensity, and fear, but I also believe it can be deeply empowering. Like breathing in and out, birth asks us to move through each moment and integrate what unfolds as the story develops.

So many parts of birth can feel wild or unexpected while we’re in them, and often, that’s normal. As a doula, my role is not to fit families into a formula, but to meet them where they are. I listen, respond with compassion, ask questions, and provide information and education when needed so each family feels supported in the ways that serve them best.

I became a young single mother and quickly realized there was so much I didn’t know and so much I wished someone had taught me. That experience stayed with me. It shaped the way I care for families now and ultimately led me to become a doula.

I know what it feels like to need more support, guidance, and reassurance than you have access to—and I want families to feel more held than I did. I spent years working in restaurant management before transitioning into birth work, and for the first time in my career, I feel deeply aligned with what I do.

I believe people remember how they felt during birth for a very long time, and everyone deserves to feel respected, cared for and empowered as they give birth.  My goal as their doula is to bring them calm, honesty, and reassurance.

I want every client to feel like they have someone steady in the room who can help them slow down, breathe, and feel less overwhelmed. To me, the goal is not perfection. It’s helping families feel informed, respected, connected, and supported through the entire transition into parenthood.

After being a professional nanny for over a decade, I was looking for my "next chapter". I had considered becoming a labor and delivery nurse, but realized I was less interested in the clinical side of birth work. I attended an info meeting about doula work - and I was sold!

Supporting birthing people along their pregnancy and labor journey with evidenced-based information and personalized emotional support was exactly where my heart was. It is my passion to walk alongside families and help to make their birth experience one of joy and empowerment.

I believe that every parent deserves to feel informed, heard, and fully supported throughout pregnancy and birth. I am passionate about providing evidence-based information, staying connected prenatally, and making sure my clients know they have someone in their corner. 

Birth is transformative, and my role is not to define what a good birth looks like—it’s to understand what matters most to each client and support them in feeling respected, informed, and cared for however their birth unfolds.

I’ve always cared deeply about reproductive justice and helping people feel informed and supported without shame around their bodies and choices. (Hence me becoming a social worker focusing on advocacy for young parents and sexual health education for the past 8 years)

My connection to birth work started in 2019, when I went to Madagascar and assisted births at a rural birthing center.  I jumped right in, witnessing and supporting many births in a completely different setting to the United States.This was life-changing, as I witnessed how powerful and beautiful birth can be when supported by a true community. 

When I returned to the U.S, I worked a variety of community health roles, got my masters in social work, and then became a doula as a way to bring all of my work together in a more direct, hands-on form. I’ve always been passionate about helping people feel informed, empowered, and supported as they make choices that feel right for them. Paired with my love of movement and helping people feel connected to their bodies, birth work became a space where many of my passions aligned.

These days there are so many avenues of information and sifting through who to "trust"... from birth influencers to researchers to medical spaces. As a doula, I’m passionate about bringing professional support, anticipatory education..and helping provide security and joy to the birth experience.

I believe birth is powerful, vulnerable, and deserving of care that honors each person’s unique journey. My goal is to help each birthing person to feel confident, informed, supported, calm (and a little bit of laughter along the way).

I’ve always been drawn to supporting people during some of the most meaningful moments in their lives, and birth has always felt especially powerful to me. From a young age, I was fascinated by pregnancy and birth and in awe of the strength, transformation, and ability of the human body.

Over time, that curiosity grew into a deep passion for being present with families in this season. I’ve seen how much of a difference it makes when someone feels safe, heard, supported, and cared for throughout pregnancy and birth.

As a doula, I love walking alongside families during such a vulnerable and powerful time, offering calm support, encouragement, education, and reassurance so they feel more confident, empowered, and connected in their experience. Birth work is deeply personal to me, and it’s truly an honor to be trusted in that space.

No matter what, my goal as a doula is to make sure every client feels safe, supported, heard, and never alone throughout their birth experience.

I value building genuine, trusting relationships with the families I work with so they feel truly comfortable, understood, and cared forI love helping create a peaceful birth atmosphere that helps everyone feel grounded and safe.  I want birth to feel like a space where positive, empowering memories are made.

I was drawn to birth work through my own experiences, where I witnessed how deeply a family’s journey is shaped by the level of preparation, support, and thoughtful guidance they receive.

That understanding evolved into a calling to ensure families feel not only cared for, but truly informed and confident as they approach birth and postpartum. To offer a knowledgeable presence that is steady, advocacy that is intentional, and care that honors the full depth of the experience. Today, this work feels both purposeful and sacred. An extension of who I am and how I serve.

I believe birth is both a physiological process and a transformative rite of passage, and that your postpartum deserves to be treated with equal care.

It’s really important to me to give personalized care to each family I serve. Spending time building trust in pregnancy and really getting to know my clients is something I value, so I can meet their unique needs and support their birth vision fully.

For 7 years I worked as a medical assistant in a Women’s Health Clinc and that’s when it all clicked for me! My time working in women’s health, learning alongside midwives, OB/GYNs, and observing births, sparked my love for birth work.

I saw the need to help women feel informed, empowered, and truly supported in their birth experience and so I became a doula. I have a deep passion for babies and moms, and hope to become a labor & delivery nurse in the future as well.