About Me
Hi, my name is Danielle. For as long as I can remember, I've been deeply curious, asking unexpected questions and seeing beyond what I was being taught. This propensity lead me down a beautiful path of community care and birth justice that has made me who I am today. I found my calling in birth work because pregnant and birthing people deserve better. We deserve providers who listen to us, research that reflects our lived experiences, information that acknowledges the reality of living in a cycling body, and, ultimately, autonomy over our bodies and futures.
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I studied Social Anthropology, Religion, and Theatre Arts as an undergrad, developing a deep interest in global birth practices, particularly the gap between indigenous health approaches and Western healthcare models. These passions converged during my time in the US Peace Corps in South Africa, where I worked closely with a group of home-based caregivers. Their work focused on community education and care, and I was captivated by their peer-to-peer approach. In a place where information and trust in systems were often unreliable, I saw the immense pressure women faced to keep their families safe—and how relationships built on trust could foster the sharing of life-saving knowledge.
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I attended my first three births in South Africa. I observed where motherhood is often marked by hardship, undervaluation, grief, and stress in under resourced rural Mpumalanga Province. I also saw how beautiful supportive community and community based care givers eased the burden and brought unmeasurable amounts of joy to each other. Upon returning to Chicago, I worked at the Field Museum on a project exploring traditional medicines used by people within the city. During this time, I met a birth doula, and my mind was blown. This was exactly the skillset I had been seeking to help my friends navigate their births—and exactly what I would want for myself if I chose to have children.
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In 2010, I attended a DONA International workshop and began my formal doula training. Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of working with a wide variety of families across four states. One of my greatest joys is seeing a parent surrounded by love and support during their birthing time, as they bring a new life into the world.
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In 2014, I expanded my skillset by completing Rush Medical’s Lay-Chaplain Training program, which introduced me to families who had experienced prenatal and infant loss. This deepened my understanding of grief, and I went on to train as a grief companion with a dedicated organization in Fort Collins, Colorado. I later completed Still Birth Day’s Bereavement Doula training, which has given me the ability to approach both joyful and sorrowful births with a unique perspective.
I continued to balance the contradictions as I became a parent myself. My personal birth experiences were varied: one calm and orgasmic, the other filled with interventions and medication. Despite the differences, both were informed and empowered, thanks to my support team of my loving partner and skilled doulas. These experiences affirmed my passion for helping others navigate the often unpredictable journey to parenting, guided by informed choices.
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​Although I thought I was educated on what it took to be a parent, I was unprepared for the impact of postpartum depression. The days were long, and the nights longer, as I struggled with the unpredictability of new parenthood. I learn a lot about myself in those years. By the time my second child was three months old, I felt my vitality returning and, with it, a renewed passion for supporting other parents through this profound life transition. In my healing journey, I took a holistic approach to my mental, spiritual, and physical health, which ultimately reignited my drive to help others. During my break from active birth work while my babies were little, I continued supporting parents through miscarriage and perinatal loss. This new focus included a deepened interest in postpartum mood disorders and the systemic lack of support for families. Birth work became just one part of my practice as I co-founded a community space aimed at addressing the gaps in perinatal care.
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This passion led to my partnership with a hospital-based midwife and IBCLC to open Fern & Foster Family Wellness in Tacoma, Washington. Running a community-based small business was a deeply fulfilling experience. I participated in the Spaceworks Small Business Incubator program and built connections with fellow small business owners across the city. Unfortunately, due to the financial strains of COVID-19 and a family move to California, we had to close this chapter earlier than expected.
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In this transition, I returned to graduate school to earn my Master of Public Health at UC Berkeley, deepening my expertise in healthcare policy, research, and leadership. During my time at UCSF, I worked with Dr. Meredith Meacham at the intersection of digital health information, cannabis legalization, health education, and missing consumer protections.
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In the time since graduating, I've had the opportunity work with Osiris Professional Services as a Community Engagement Consultant working with a faith-based reparations and reconciliation project in Chicago. Currently, I am working with Dr. Ana Coutinho on a solution for doula training and work force development for the East Bay Guatemalan Indigenous community through the Medi-Cal doula benefit.
Today, I’m excited to relaunch my consulting and doula practice in the East Bay. I look forward to hearing from you soon!