A doula is a compassionate, consistent figure

who provides emotional, physical, and informational support

throughout an embodied experience.

Often, doulas are associated with birth. The role formally emerged in the 1970's with the natural birth movement, and took the United States by storm in 2008 when the documentary The Business of Being Born came out. Since then, doulas have expanded their scope beyond the labor & birth world.

"Full-spectrum doulas" support pregnant people regardless of outcome - live birth, miscarriage or still birth, abortion, as well as perinatal and postpartum support.

"Death doulas" support individuals through their last stages of  life, across the threshold into death.

"Illness doulas" accompany and empower patients navigating the healthcare system.

Doulas can offer a unique - and often quite needed - perspective and support during a time of transition and uncertainty.

My Experience

18 years ago, I first met a birth doula who guest lectured in a course I took my junior year of college:"The Philosophy of Medicine." I resonated with the principles she described at the heart of doula work: providing compassionate, continuous care during experiences of pregnancy, labor, birth, the perinatal period, and into parenthood. As someone who was adopted, raised as a feminist, drawn to advocacy, and a scholar of gender and health studies, it was a clear fit.

I trained and certified as a doula through DONA, and apprenticed with a midwife/childbirth educator in Accra, Ghana. In 2012, I learned about full-spectrum doula work, and became a leader in the movement's founding organization in New York City — The Doula Project. I served as the project’s site coordinator at Bellevue Hospital, designed and led full-spectrum doula trainings, and have written numerous articles and essays about doula work.

Often, my clients are grappling with the nuances of bodily autonomy, loss, grief, and acceptance.

 

Types of support

I offer support throughout various experiences, including but not limited to:

  • family planning, conception

  • pregnancy, perinatal, and postpartum periods

  • pregnancy loss and grief

  • reproductive health treatment (e.g. ovarian cyst), illness or surgery

  • general illness or surgery

  • grief

 

I currently offer perinatal support virtually, and postpartum doula support in Brooklyn.

To inquire, please email me or fill out the form below.