Our Birth Doulas

Jenna Bourgeois

Jenna Bourgeois completed her initial doula training through DONA International with Debra Pascali-Bonaro in 2012 and then in 2013 went on to become a Certified Holistic Doula with Whapio Diane Bartlett through The Matrona. This further training reaffirmed her belief in a woman's instinctual knowledge of how to birth her baby and deepened her understanding of how best to accompany a woman without disturbing her process.

An aspiring midwife, Jenna went to Bali in 2014 for an Introduction to Midwifery course through The Birth Institute where she lived and worked in a gentle birth clinic alongside local midwives. In order to help her clients achieve their breastfeeding goals, in 2015 she became a Certified Breastfeeding Counselor with Lea Rivera Todaro of Mami Mia.

Seeing first hand the impact of optimal fetal positioning on a smooth vaginal birth, Jenna also trained with Tammy Ryan of Spinning Babies to be able to better serve pregnant and laboring women.

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Jenny Langbehn

Jenny Langbehn is a trained professional birth doula (DONA), certified prenatal and postnatal yoga teacher, and Lamaze certified childbirth educator supporting women and families in Manhattan. Additionally, Jenny is certified in acupressure for pregnancy and labor (N. Olow, LAC), rebozo technique (Debra Pascali-Bonaro and Amathyst Herstens [Kirby Method]), NRP (neonatal resuscitation with Karen Strange, certified in 2015), certified in adult and infant CPR, and has attended conferences and workshops in comfort techniques for labor, birth and peanut ball use, Spinning Babies techniques with Gail Tully, midwifery workshops with Chanti Smith, CPM, Hypnobirthing For Birth Professionals, and most recently was honored to attend the Midwifery Assistant Workshop at The Farm (The Farm Midwives, Tennessee). Jenny’s greatest work to date is her five year-old son, Robby. He appeared quite unexpectedly at 29 weeks, and after 10 harrowing weeks in the NICU, has been doing things unexpectedly (and brilliantly) ever since! Jenny teaches prenatal yoga at the Prenatal Yoga Center and ISHTA Yoga in Manhattan, and is honored to be a part of the birth community in this sometimes difficult to navigate, but wonderful city.

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Sarah Lovell

Sarah Anne Lovell is a Certified Holistic Doula, Certified Lactation Counselor, Childbirth Educator, Homebirth Assistant and she is voracious in her desire to deeply understand birth and how to support birthing people and their families. Sarah has completed the Holistic Doula Training as well as Tending the Postpartum Psyche through Whapio and The Matrona, studied Neonatal Resuscitation and completed additional courses in Comforting Touch (massage), Acupressure for Pregnancy, Labor & Postpartum, The 4th Trimester, Homeopathy for Pregnancy, Birth & Postpartum, Advanced Doula Training with Penny Simkin, Supporting LGBTQ Families in Birth & Postpartum and most recently a workshop on Homoepathy for Birth & Postpartum. She also has nearly a decade of experience working in natural health clinics with chiropractors specializing in the Webster Technique, pediatric and perinatal care.

She feels her work is centered around the whole family, connecting deeply with them while supporting, empowering and protecting their choices and desires for their birth. Sarah has an unwaivering belief in the process of birth, no matter how it unfolds.

“Our society bombards us with such negative images of birth, it has been such a blessing
for me to be able to tell someone, ‘I know you can do this.’ and see them do something they never thought they could.”

Sarah has been teaching with Manhattan Birth for 3 years, lives in Inwood and supports births in hospitals, birthing centers and at home in Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn and parts of New Jersey.

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Yiska Obadia-Gedal

Yiska Obadia-Gedal is a NY State licensed acupuncturist, prenatal and therapeutic massage therapist and birth doula. As a massage therapist since 1995 and friend, she attended her first birth in 2001. Awed by the power and beauty of that experience, she attended a doula training program to learn more about the ways she could support mothers and families in the birth process.

Bringing together her various skill sets has been an integrative experience, enabling Yiska to serve her clients in a variety of ways, inside and outside of birth. Most recently she has been teaching other doulas and partners how to provide the kind of comforting touch she uses during birth to make birthing women feel most deeply supported and soothed.

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Annette Perel

Working with women in labor and the birth of her son in 2005 inspired Annette Perel to focus her studies towards becoming a midwife. Growing up bilingual in two different cultures, New York and Panama City, Annette draws from a time-honored tradition in which supporting women is an integral part of community life.

Annette has a great enthusiasm for babywearing and Diaper Free Infant Hygiene (“Elimination Communication”). She has a respect for and interest in exploring different parenting styles and traditions. Annette is honored to be a new parent mentor helping new moms and dads make the transition confidently into parenthood.

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Maggie Rosenfeld

Maggie Rosenfeld is a birth doula in Westchester County who provides services in the Tri-State Area. She completed her DONA training and is working toward her certification. For years she has served people as a mental health counselor, crisis counselor, and organizational psychologist.

Maggie views life as an ongoing opportunity to express her strengths, creativity and passion through her work. Her desire to use her hands and build intimate relationships has led her to the birth world. She comes from a large family with six adopted siblings and Maggie being the seventh is the youngest. This upbringing allows for a celebration of the diversity each family holds in her eyes.

She supports women and their families through the birth journey whether at home, in a birth center or a hospital. Maggie values building lasting bonds with families and supporting them as they make informed and instinctive decisions during pregnancy, birth and postpartum care.

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Grace Veras Sealy

Grace Veras Sealy is a birth and postpartum doula, and a certified lactation counselor. She offers labor and birth services for home births, birthing center, hospital births, and planned cesareans.

Her aim as a birth doula is to support parents in labor and birth so that when they look back on the moment can remember that they felt strong, knowledgeable, respected and joyous. By providing postpartum services she offers continuity of care after the birth and early breastfeeding support.

Her approach to postpartum doula care is hinged on helping to building the new parents' confidence while providing practical support to them and their new baby.

Grace lives in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn with her husband and two daughters.

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Experienced Doulas

DAWN CHORBA

AUDREY JESSUP

JAYE MAYNARD

SOPHIA O’SHAUGHNESSY

KASIA SANVEE

Dawn Chorba

Dawn Chorba is a Certified Holistic Birth and Postpartum Doula and a Certified Breastfeeding Counselor. She came to this work through the birth of her son, Orson. She credits her own extremely satisfying and empowering childbirth experience to the support she received prenatally, in labor and postpartum. A deep passion and value surrounding pregnancy, birth and postpartum awakened within her and she couldn’t imagine spending her life doing anything else. She is also trained in Spinning Babies and Rebozo and holds a Healthcare Provider Adult/Child/Infant/CPR/AED/Choking Certification. She studied The Bradley Method® of Natural Childbirth with Tanya Wills to prepare for her son’s birth and is currently undergoing certification to teach The Bradley Method® of Natural Childbirth. Dawn completed the GoGo Babies® Infant Developmental Movement and Yoga for Babies Professional Training with Ellynne Skove as well as her Understanding your Newborn in the 4th Trimester: Soothing, Settling & Centering.

She is the middle child of three sisters, was raised in New Jersey and married her high school sweetheart. She studied Design and Merchandising with a concentration in Marketing at Drexel University in Philadelphia. She loves art, fashion and considers herself a Jane of All Trades when it comes to creative projects.

CONTACT DAWN

Audrey Jessup

Audrey Jessup is a birth and postpartum doula seeking to empower and celebrate women through this incredible period in their lives. She provides support from pregnancy through the newborn period and has numerous additional trainings in massage techniques/comforting touch, breastfeeding,

Spinning Babies, newborn care, and more. Her goal as a doula is to help parents navigate this challenging time while feeling respected, informed, confident, and joyful. Whether it is a hospital, birth center or home birth, Audrey emphasizes compassionate care to help expectant parents achieve the birth that they desire.

In her postnatal work, she strives to build confidence in new parents or growing families with practical tips, tools and resources while smoothing difficult transitions, whether that is a new baby entering the home or a partner returning to work. She provides non-judgmental support and a helping hand based on the individual needs of each particular client.

Audrey is a native Upper West Sider who received her BA in American History from Barnard College at Columbia University. She is currently living in Williamsburg with her best friend and many plants, and she is thrilled to serve the women of her home city.

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Jaye Maynard

Jaye Maynard attended her first birth while in college for her BFA in Theater from the University of Utah, in Salt Lake City, Utah, as a 21 year-old, and fell under the birth-spell of life-affirming transformation that is the gift of the work of labor.

Since then she has lived life in Los Angeles for over a decade before moving to NYC to obtain her MA at NYU, (in vocal performance) and working on both coasts and across the country as a customized personal assistant: improving and producing lives, and quality of life for many wherever she goes.

Now based out of NYC for the most recent decade and a half, she calls Park Slope Brooklyn home with her domestic partner, her cat; Ethel, and his dog; Molly. Her own birth story started in the heartland of the upper Midwest, in the land of Wisco.

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Sophia O'Shaughnessy

Sophia O’Shaughnessy is a DONA-trained birth doula. Originally from Atlanta, GA, Sophia moved to New York to pursue a career in opera, though, after the birth of her son, she became passionate about pregnancy and birth.

Sophia gave birth naturally at the birthing center at Mt. Sinai West. Inspired by her own positive experience, she is dedicated to helping women have their own fulfilling birth experiences. She believes that birth can be a transformative, empowering experience for every mother.

She is an enthusiastic advocate for women to make their own informed choices in birth, and is committed to giving non-judgmental, loving support to women during such a beautiful time in their lives.

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Kasia Sanvee

Kasia Sanvee is a DONA International Certified Birth Doula and has supported women of various cultures in the U.S. and Africa in many different settings and throughout a variety of circumstances.

She supports all birth choices and provides every pregnant person with non-judgmental, respectful and compassionate care so that they may experience the birth in the way that is truthful and unique to them. Kasia has attended multiple trainings that enriched her doula practice including Spinning Babies, Rebozo, acupressure for labor, massage techniques, essential oils, and many more. Also, having a yogic background, she is happy to share some of the techniques that can be helpful in preparation for labor and parenthood.

During postpartum visits, Kasia offers her expertise in breastfeeding, and as needed or requested: mentoring on RIE, attachment parenting, babywearing, cloth diapering, elimination communication (EC), and more. Kasia speaks English, French and Polish and basic Spanish.

She is a mother to a wonderful little girl from whom she learns every day and enjoys life in simple ways, while practicing yoga and discovering the beauty of other cultures through traveling.

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“All babies have heads.”
— Tanya Wills, Founder

Manhattan Birth Mentor Program

These doulas are currently matriculated in the Manhattan Birth Mentor Program and are a close part of the Manhattan Birth community. We think they are terrific! They are all professionally trained as doulas, and are working on advanced trainings in a myriad of birth topics, all the courses Manhattan Birth has to offer, and are being personally mentored by our founder, Tanya Wills, and our entire team as they grow their doula practices.

Each has a different level of experience and special skills to offer. We know you will love them as much as we do.

VALENCIA ANDREWS

JONELLI BORDEN

YAMILKA DE DIOS

THAMAR INNOCENT

KIMBERLY JOHNSON

BORBALA LAKI

EMILIE RODRIGUEZ

Valencia Andrews

Valencia Andrews is a DONA-trained birth doula, providing services in Westchester County and the Greater New York City area. Her path to birth work was inspired by supporting many close friends and family during their labor and delivery experiences. It was these formative experiences that guided Valencia during her early training, informing her current approach as a doula, of being centered on wholehearted attentiveness and providing a calm presence, while giving non-judgmental, physical, emotional and spiritual support to pregnant persons.

Valencia believes in the immense power of having a positive labor and birth experience and its long-lasting impact on the mother, child, family and mother’s community. She expresses her creativity and commitment to the health of women and babies through her services, and is devoted to embracing the birth vision and tending to the unique needs of each laboring person.

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Jonelli Borden

Jonelli Borden was a Manhattan Birth student before she became a Certified Holistic Doula through Whapio and The Matrona. Inspired to become a doula while preparing for the birth of her own son, she strives to assist families by providing caring and knowledgeable service and judgement-free support. She believes that families are empowered through choice and works to create an environment where those choices can be made with full confidence and understanding. Jonelli charges $500.

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Yamilka De Dios

Yamilka De Dios is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and mother of two, who has been passionate about birth her entire life. After taking a women's studies course during her undergraduate work, her passion grew through both her pregnancies and births. Yamilka experienced birth trauma with her first birth and despite being a mental health provider, knowing in her core that mental health was imperative to a woman's journey into motherhood, she struggled to find the resources and help she needed. Through her second pregnancy, she found healing through the support of her midwife and later, her birth team. As a result of her experiences, she has chosen to devote her life to supporting women and families through this life transition.

Yamilka has a deep desire to support, nurture and share her wisdom with her clients so they feel empowered to advocate for themselves. She believes it takes a village to raise a child, therefore a village to nurture a mother! She has a 9 year old son and a 2 year old daughter and is excited to be a part of the Manhattan Birth community. Yamilka's fee is $1000 but will also work on a sliding scale for our students!

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Thamar Innocent

Thamar Innocent is a trained birth and postpartum doula and her goal is to create a space filled with support, resources, advocacy, love and sometimes just a listening ear. Her passion is rooted in a Caribbean culture that prides themselves on caring for the woman from preconception through her transition into motherhood.

Thamar feels that her purpose is to support and empower moms to lead a holistic lifestyle that works for them. Thamar is also a certified health coach and received her B.S in Health Services Administration in NYC. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and 7-year-old son.

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Kimberly Johnson

Kimberly Johnson pursued training as a doula after a lifelong interest in birth. Her own mother instilled in her a great respect for all birth experiences, speaking fondly of both her two natural births, as well as the amazing support she received after an emergency cesarean. After pursuing a master's degree in oral history, Kimberly began to realize that she enjoys creating a safe space in which everyone's voice is heard and supported. As an older sister of six, she is well accustomed to middle of the night calls and the occasional barrage of text messages!

Kimberly has lived in New York City for almost 10 years and is finally making the leap from her desk job to full-time birth work. In her own work, she hopes to provide compassionate and nonjudgmental support to parents and families. She looks forward to supporting every family through birth and postpartum in whatever ways they need.

In her free time, she enjoys going to classical music concerts and the ballet, hiking, adventures in her kitchen, and spending time with her family. One day, she hopes to do an oral history project bridging her interest in oral history and birth work. Kimberly currently charges $500.

Contact Kimberly

Borbala Laki

Borbala Laki is a mother and DONA trained birth doula working toward certification. She has assisted births within her family, has experience in using homeopathy to aid the birth, breastfeeding and postpartum needs. Bori feels that her main goal as a doula is to help the birthing mother feel as safe and comfortable as possible, and, even more importantly, work with her to build her self confidence regarding giving birth. She believes that birthing happens as much in the mind/soul as in the physical body, and if the mother is well informed and aware of what is happening in her body, it will make her be able to keep her calm, strength and confidence.

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Emilie Rodriguez

Emilie Rodriguez is a DONA trained birth doula and a Birth Mama trained holistic postpartum doula which addresses mothers' nutritional, physical, emotional, and spiritual well being. She believes every woman should have the birth she desires, the information needed to see it come to fruition, and be an advocate for herself and her family. She believes that giving birth is one of the most sacred, yet normal, experiences in a woman's life and wants to help women see their inner power.

Emilie's interests first started in medicine where she worked as a veterinary technician for years before becoming interested in the influences of culture on women's bodies. Emilie received her BA in Medical Anthropology from the City College of New York, focusing on reproductive health in the United States, particularly pertaining to birth. She did her first ethnography on doula work in Brooklyn, shadowing Chanel Porchia from Ancient Song Doula Services, and then another exploring birth experiences in the US and abroad.

She was also a Colin Powell Fellow for Health Justice, advocating with Health Leads in Harlem Hospital's OB/GYN Unit to give low-income families access to resources they needed to stay healthy, as well as writing health policy to advance equality and civil rights at New York Lawyers for the Public Interest.

She always knew she wanted to work with women and children, but did not know in what capacity. It wasn't until she experienced labor and childbirth herself that she realized how transformative and empowering it could be.

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