Jessica was trained as a birth doula in 2000 and received her certification from DONA.  She has a Bachelor of Arts in Literature from Brown University, where she minored in French and education.  Jessica's interest in birth grew in college, when she took an internship at a birthing center as part of a medical anthropology class.  She recently completed an 18-hour practical course on breastfeeding offered by the Philadelphia Department of Health.

Jessica has attended low-risk, low-intervention births, as well as cesarean, VBAC, and higher-intervention births. She provided volunteer doula services through the Philadelphia Alliance for Labor Support before joining Birth Right Doula Services.  She provides all her clients with their own aromatherapy "hot socks" during pregnancy and labor, and a birth story after the delivery.
 

Wendy has a B.A. in developmental psychology from Duke University, with a minor in Spanish. She worked with homeless families for five years before her daughter's birth in 2002. This work included accompanying several pregnant women in childbirth, which began her interest in birth support and the role of the doula. Wendy is certified through DONA and, prior to joining Birth Right Doula Services, also provided volunteer support through the Philadelphia Alliance for Labor Support.

The births she has attended have included such circumstances as: preterm labor, pre-eclampsia, multiple births, and cesareans, as well as low intervention births, in hospitals, birthing centers, and at home.. She has seen the way the support of a doula can help create a calm, positive, nurturing environment in which labor can proceed most effectively, and help maintain a sense of the sacredness of childbirth whatever the circumstances may be.

Ann completed both the birth and postpartum doula trainings in the spring of 2004, but has found her heart lies in the postpartum field.  Ann has more than ten years of childcare experience.  She spent her years at the University of Pittsburgh as an English major, but also as a full-time nanny for a family with whom she spent nearly four years.  She has nannied for various other families and cared for over 100 children.  Ann maintains up-to-date Red Cross certification in infant, child, and adult CPR and in first aid.  She has attended a variety of childbirth education classes, postpartum workshops, and breastfeeding training courses, including the Philadelphia Department of Public Health’s eighteen-hour breastfeeding class. She is a certified doula through DONA.

Ann loves the educational aspect of being a postpartum doula: assisting with infant care basics, helping mothers recognize what is normal in postpartum recovery and the amazing cues of the newborn. From breastfeeding assistance to the first bath to simple household tasks, Ann loves being a doula and watching new families evolve into a solid unit.  One of her favorite things is helping new mothers to sprout their wings and find the confidence to mother their babies happily and healthfully.