Meet the Doulas & Newborn Care Specialists

Ashley became a birth doula and placenta encapsulator after her doula supported own birth experience with her third baby. She has also been supporting families in Cleveland as a postpartum doula when she realized the real need for support her clients were experiencing after birth.

Jessica is a postpartum doula and a licensed massage therapist at Nurtured Foundation serving the Greater Toledo & Southwest Michigan Areas.

Jessica has always loved giving support to friends and family during their pregnancies and after they gave birth. Her passion for helping new families and that is what lead her to become a doula.

Joelle is a certified birth doula. She fell in love with childbirth a little over 5 years ago when she witnessed the birth of her niece. She knew then and there that her life would never be the same.

Joelle is a certified birth and bereavement doula though SBD. She is also trained with Birth Arts International as a Postpartum Doula.

Emma offers birth doula services to the Cleveland area. Her passion for birth began with her first birth and just grew with her second.

Emma had a birth doula for both her births and she saw the value in birth doula work. She began her journey into the birth world by offering placenta encapsulation services.

Merav Minkin was a graphic designer and event planner for 10 years prior to finding her true calling as a doula in 2007, when she gave birth to her second child. When he was 5 months old, Merav packed up her suitcases and 2 kids, and drove to NYC to attend a DONA Birth Doula training.

Amanda is a day & night postpartum doula. She is very passionate about her job helping families during the postpartum time. Amanda has over two wonderful years under her belt as a trained postpartum doula and has learned much more hands on through her years of work.

Marlene has a BA in Liberal Studies with concentrations on psychology, pastoral care and missions from Oral Roberts University.  She has always been an advocate for family cohesiveness as well as for the voiceless in society.

Alanna is a Newborn Care Specialist (NCS) and Postpartum Doula who works with families in Northeast Ohio to help “mother the mothers” and “baby the babies” with compassionate and evidence based care backed by years of experience.

Chauna absolutely loves pouring her heart into her work as a doula. She truly desires to be a cup of cold water and a plate of encouragement to each family in her care. Recognizing that each family is different with unique and special needs, Chauna seeks to be hands and feet when and where they are needed most.

Meg is a Certified Child Life Specialist and Newborn Care Specialist. Her bachelors degree as a Child Life Specialist was attained from The University of Akron. Meg initially began nursing school with the goal of becoming a labor and delivery or pediatric oncology nurse.

I’m a DONA trained birth doula. My passion for birth began when I became pregnant with my daughter. The way the female body works and the strength it has, really fascinated me during pregnancy more than anything.

Emily became fascinated about child birth and birth work shortly after talking with a friend about the benefits and beauty of having a Birth Doula. Completely intrigued, she jumped right into training to become a Birth Doula. She thoroughly enjoys helping others feel confident and empowered through their experiences.

Shannon is a birth doula and is trained through DONA, serving the Cleveland area. She has had births at Metro, Fairview, and St. John Westshore hospitals. Shannon will also be trained with Spinning Babies as well as a postpartum Doula through DONA, as of June 2019.