Birthing Advocacy Doula Trainings

Ash Woods (they/them) is a trans full spectrum doula living on Coast Salish land in so-called Seattle, Washington. They view doula work as community work, and are dedicated to dismantling the stigmas associated with perinatal drug use. They helped form the Harm Reduction Doula Collective to meet the needs of pregnant people using drugs.

Ash teaches Harm Reduction 101 for Birthworkers.

Arielle (Arlo) Narva (she/her) is a white, queer, ashkenazi anti-zionist Jew. She arrives in this role of facilitator with a deep love and unwavering support for pregnant people, parents, caregivers and families. Arlo is a harm reductionist and full spectrum doula who has worked in direct service and leadership roles, fighting for policy and practices that fully honor and support people who use drugs. She had the opportunity to lead a community doula program in Philadelphia that focused on serving pregnant and postpartum parents who use drugs, and currently resides on Narragansett land in so-called Rhode Island, serving as Director of Programs at a harm reduction organization. Arlo is deeply grateful to the work of Dorothy Roberts, Erin Miles Cloud, Lisa Sangoi, Khiara Bridges, Joyce McMillan and many other Black women & scholars for teaching, politicizing, and showing her the way.

Arlo co-teaches Support in Pregnancy & Labor for People Who Use Drugs and Support in Birth & Postpartum for People Who Use Drugs.

MaryNissi Lemon (she/her) is a Childbirth Educator, full spectrum Birth Coach (Doula),  and a Certified Lactation Counselor. She has been supporting families on their birthing journey for over 7 years. Equipping families prepare for pregnancy, birth, and after. Using hands-on education, MaryNissi, is passionate about meeting every birthing mama and family with a holistic approach to positively impact their birth and postpartum outcome and satisfaction.

MaryNissi co-teaches Support in Pregnancy & Labor for People Who Use Drugs and Support in Birth & Postpartum for People Who Use Drugs.

Heather Thompson (she/they), MS, PhD is a molecular and cellular biologist, clinical researcher, birthworker, and queer parent with non-binary gender. Heather has worked for equity, access and autonomy in childbirth for more than 25 years, and was part of the team that passed the historic Colorado Birth Equity Bill Package in 2021. Currently she is the Co-Deputy Director of Elephant Circle, a birth justice organization, doing work that allows her to combine her background in birth access and equity with science and community organizing.

Heather has been educating consumers and clinicians about perinatal cannabis since its liberalization in Colorado in 2012, work that has resulted two peer-reviewed publications. Heather’s application to birth justice issues goes back to her work as the Director of Research at a community birth center in Colorado (2010-2017), and participation in an NIH Task Force evaluating the evidence-based literature on SIDS and bedsharing/cosleeping in the context of AAP guidelines on infant sleep. These experiences, in addition to 19 years of postpartum doula work, feeds Heather’s passion for supporting family ecology by helping families navigate their own journey, particularly as it relates to perinatal care, birth choices, and legal cannabis. Born and raised in Colorado, Heather lives in Denver and enjoys being outside around a campfire with her partner, two kids and larger community.

Heather co-teaches  Cannabis and the Childbearing Year. 

Briana Simmons (she/her) is a Black, queer femme from Kansas City, MO who is deeply inspired by the revolutionary act of mothering as an affirmation, concept, and roadmap. As the Black Maternal Health, Healing, & Joy Coordinator for Soul 2 Soul Sisters, she creates programming centering on the lives and experiences of Black women. Briana manages Soul 2 Soul Sisters’ birthworker program, Sacred Seeds Black Birthworker Collective of CO, in providing a healing space for professional development and networking opportunities for about 20 Black birthworkers as they work to serve pregnant people and their families throughout the state. As a full-spectrum life cycle facilitator working with folks giving life and those facing death, she founded Unearthing Tradition, a holistic wellness organization that exists to create unapologetic healing spaces for Black folks to exhale, especially in the midst of sacred transitions. She holds a B.S. in Journalism, a M.A. in International Human Rights, and several training certifications as a yoga instructor, birth worker, and end of life planner. IG: @unearthingtradition; Facebook: Unearthing Tradition; Website: www.unearthingtradition.com

Briana co-teaches  Cannabis and the Childbearing Year.

JB Brown (they/he) is a full-spectrum doula and community educator, with a passion for pelvises, humans, trauma-informed care, and restorative justice. As a trans non-binary person, he is practiced in the art (and awkwardness) of transition, and he brings this knowing and compassion to his work as a doula and educator, supporting individuals and families through their own transformations in conception, pregnancy, birth, postpartum and beyond. JB works with students and professionals to be partners and accomplices in the movement to change the current birth environment locally, nationally and globally. In addition to work in the perinatal space, JB does advocacy, education, mentorship, and consulting work around gender, both for trans, gender non-conforming, and non-binary people, as well as folks looking to include these individuals in their work. http://www.loveoverfearwellness.com 

JB co-teaches Trauma Informed Care and Harm Reduction. 

Ama Merrell (they/them) is a full-spectrum & loss doula, peer counselor, childbirth educator, somatic practitioner, and perinatal photographer. They live and work in Chicago. They specialize in working with queer & trans families, fat folks, disabled & neurodivergent people, and survivors of trauma & violence, all from a place of lived experience. They organize around harm reduction and non-carceral mental health crisis response. You can connect with them online at embodiedcare.org or email [email protected].

Ama co-teaches Trauma Informed Care and Harm Reduction.