Aliya (uh-leah) Caler is a DONA certified birth doula. She works to meet the psycho-social needs of women giving birth by providing continuous emotional support and physical comfort in order to assure that their instincts are driving their experience. She has supported first time moms, mom’s with and without partners, and mom’s of various ethnic, [...]

Caitlin became a doula after delving into her career as a yoga teacher and realizing that she was passionate about teaching pregnant women; as soon as she began her DONA training, she knew she’d found her calling. She was inspired to take the leap into doula work after hearing a friend’s birth story that moved [...]

Caitlin has been passionate about moms, birth and babies since childhood. After working as a nanny to new mothers in New York City, she realized her unique ability to comfort both the babies AND the mothers. She did a lot of soul searching (and google searching!) and returned to her childhood passion by becoming a [...]

**CARMEN IS ON MEDICAL LEAVE UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE** Carmen Siragna~Nazario has always felt the desire to serve others, be they people or animals, and has worked to improve and safeguard lives since her teenage years. Through teaching Kundalini Yoga, Carmen has continued her dedication to serving humanity, by spreading awareness of the power of the [...]

As the Director/Owner of BirthFocus, Elizabeth is also grateful to continue to provide labor support doula services to the women and families of NYC. Ideally, Elizabeth attends one to two births per month while she balances running the practice and offering mentoring services to the doulas. As a Clinical Social Worker, Elizabeth worked for close [...]

Esdras Santana is an indigenous woman from the Dominican Republic. She is married and has two children, a boy and a girl.  Esdras does volunteer work as a doula and is a healthcare advocate for pregnant women having problems with insurance coverage. She has dedicated her time to helping women and their families have a [...]

**GILLIAN WILL BEGIN MATERNITY LEAVE ON MAY 1, 2012 ** Gillian is a trained Bradley Childbirth Educator living and working in the New York birth community, and mothering in Inwood. (“Upstate Manhattan” as it were.) Currently a DONA trained Birth and Postpartum Doula, she sees birth education and support as the gateways to the best [...]

**JENN WILL BE ON MATERNITY LEAVE BEGINNING MAY 1, 2012**After 6 years of experience in the healthcare industry working as an Account Supervisor in a pharmaceutical advertising agency, Jenn felt she had a call to action to be out from behind a desk contributing to society with a more hands-on role. Her desire to specifically [...]

A caring, empathetic woman, Jenny has held a deep commitment to women’s health from a young age. After several years of supporting women’s sexual and reproductive rights both abroad and at home from behind a computer screen, she realized that the place she can best help is through one on one connections with women. She [...]

Kat Raynor – Inspired by the power of having a natural birth with her two children, Kat trained with Celeste Rachel and is currently pursuing her Dona-Certification to share her insight with other women. She grew up in the loving and cheerful chaos of a large, close-knit Irish-American family in Brooklyn. In and out of [...]

Katharine has been working as a Doula in New York City and Brooklyn since 2008. A certified Kripalu Yoga, The Khalsa Way Pregnancy, and Baby & Me Yoga (Post-Partum) instructor, Katharine most recently taught classes at Realbirth, where she also coordinated Childbirth Education, Breastfeeding, and Newborn Care classes for clients. In addition, Katharine completed the [...]

Lijah Friedman has been providing care as a post partum and labor support doula and breastfeeding specialist since the mid 1990′s. She has two daughters, one born at home and one born in a hospital in NYC. It was the decisions surrounding her own personal pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding experiences, that led Lijah to becoming [...]

Before becoming a DONA-trained doula, Martina worked as a counselor for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. As a counselor, she helped create a calm and comfortable safe space for women and families, a skill that she now applies in her work with expecting mothers and laboring women. She is ecstatic that she gets [...]

Melissa trusts in a woman’s innate power to birth on her own terms, and is committed to facilitating women and their partners in this endeavor. She believes in the transformative nature of birth, and is never surprised by the inner strength a woman can call upon when given emotional and physical support.  Melissa began encouraging [...]

Rachel was first drawn to doula work after a difficult period in her life in which she realized that compassionate support can truly change the way we experience challenging situations. She became a doula to support women in making informed and empowering decisions about their bodies during childbirth. After completing her DONA birth doula training, [...]

Sara has had a passion for birth and babies for as long as she can remember. She always knew her calling was to “birth” babies, her own and others. She attended her first birth in 1993 and it confirmed everything she knew she wanted. After personally dealing with infertility and an incompetent cervix, which required [...]

Stacey was called to become a birth doula after graduating from college with a BA in Women and Gender Studies. Her college mentor, who was a midwife, inspired her to join the birthing world. After completing her doula training in May 2010, she has attended a few births and is currently studying Hypno-birthing and massage, [...]

Tiffany Adams is a NY Licensed Massage Therapist of six years. After her first year as a massage therapist, she became a Certified Infant Massage Instructor with Loving Touch, teaching parents how to massage their babies. She has grown to include other avenues of work in her practice, including, but not limited to pre natal [...]

Vivian is thrilled to serve as a doula for women and their families. She knew she wanted to help create positive birth experiences after seeing a natural birth for the first time. She learned then how empowering the experience could be with gentle support. Vivian recently moved to New York from Vancouver, Canada and also [...]

Wendy Ledesma has been a DONA certified birth doula since March, 2009. Formerly a public school teacher, nurturing women through work as a doula has been a joyful, life-enriching experience for her. Wendy is dedicated to supporting women and their partners to determine and experience their own agenda for the birth they desire. Wendy believes [...]