As a nurse for 29 years, I have a unique perspective on labor support and normal birth. As a former RN at the Sutter Davis Birthing Center, I was blessed to witness some of the most precious moments of my nursing career. While supporting and educating women to make informed decisions, and enabling them to have a sense of control over their birth experience, I was able to be present for hundreds of births and welcome many families into this world in many special and unique ways. From tub births to epidurals to cesarean births - I’ve seen A LOT. Normal birth is something I wish for everyone to experience, but “normal” means something different to each birthing family. For some, the goal is a “Healthy baby, healthy mom”, and their roadmap is more fluid. For others, prior experiences, values, or an intense desire for certain outcomes gives them a more solid goal for their overall birth experience. I’ve worked with many definitions of families, from same sex couples and triads, to extended families, to single parents, to “just us”. I’ve worked with many different cultures and women from a wonderful array of countries with different birth beliefs and practices. I’ve worked with the full spectrum of birth experiences from first births to 9th baby, twins to VBACs, unmedicated births to inductions, from healthy low-risk births to women with high-risk conditions or known congenital defects of their newborn. My many years of nursing experience in NICU nursing, pediatrics, and L&D, combined with over 135 births supported as a doula continue to provide me with experiences that help me cater to the widest range of clients possible. 

In 2010, I took over coordinating the Volunteer Doula Program at the Sutter Davis Birthing Center. I was a fan of this program from the day I was hired, and jumped at the chance to coordinate it at the first opportunity. I was honored to meet, train, and mentor many amazing women who gave selflessly of their time, day and night, to support women in labor, sight unseen. The beauty of these volunteers, inside and out, and the breadth of experiences and talents that they brought to the program made it easy to help this program grow exponentially over the 4 years that I coordinated it. I stepped down in 2014, after coordinating this program for 3 years as a volunteer myself, to pay more attention to my growing business. Today, this program remains in the expert hands of nurse-coordinators at the Birthing Center and continues to be a pillar of success in the Davis Community, and a model for hospitals across the country.

I have been a childbirth educator since 2007 and have helped hundreds of couples in the Davis and surrounding communities learn about the birthing process and navigate this very personal experience for themselves. After teaching my own, home-grown series for 12 years, I embarked on a fresh new curriculum from Evidence Based Birth® in 2019. As an Evidence Based Birth® Instructor, my classes cater to those who desire a deeper knowledge base and want to educate themselves on all of their options. As an educator who gets to “walk the walk” every day with couples during the birthing process, I have a unique view on the way births can unfold. I’ll never say I’ve seen it all. I never will. But I’ve seen enough to provide a unique perspective as an educator and mentor, while keeping things light-hearted, refreshing and fun. Just the way the day of your baby’s birth should be.

Combining my skills as an RN, doula, educator, photographer and mother, I have found happiness in what I do and I thrive in sharing these experiences with others. I have 2 school-aged children. The first was born in a hospital setting with complications and necessary medical interventions, but with safety, dignity and respect. The 2nd was born in a tub in my living room surrounded with love and a bouncing 2yo watching her baby brother enter this crazy world. Both births were beautiful in their own way. They have defined me as a mother and empowered me as a woman. My ability to fuse my various passions and skills into this unique service can be found no where else. I am honored to support the Greater Sacramento birthing community and blessed to continuously witness couples become new parents, one birth at a time.