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Specialty: Free Consultation

Carly Ann Braun

Carly Ann has been a doula for five years, attending over 50 births. Before she was a doula she worked in social justice education with teenagers. She began feeling dissatisfied with just talking shop about injustice, and found that doula work was a way to impact people directly while practicing her values of feminism, empowerment, anti-racism, holistic healing, and community.

She worked as a peer support doula for families with Substance Abuse Disorder at PCC Wellness/West Suburban Hospital. She learned trauma informed care, harm reduction, advocacy and some serious doula skills. Over 2021 she took a year-long training for perinatal education. In 2022 she did a year of midwifery school to become a Certified Professional Midwife. She’s taking a break now but plans to return to school in 2024 and hopes to be a practicing midwife eventually!

Carly Ann lives in Albany Park and loves gardening, riding her bike, playing guitar and cooking. She grows more and more fascinated with the healing power of herbs every day. Her current project is planting herbs for the child- bearing year and making postpartum support infusions. Her biggest hobby is playing roller derby for the Windy City Rollers. She loves the community and that derby keeps her grounded and ready for births. Carly Ann identifies as bi-sexual and many of her derby friends are queer and/or have gone through fertility treatments, so families with those experiences are close to her heart.

Carly Ann’s intention with this work is to empower people to achieve their goals and have a fulfilling, powerful birth experience. She wants people to feel deeply supported and validated no matter how they birth.

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Carly Ann was wonderful and helped make our first birth a positive and empowering experience. Her calm, clear-headed manner and dedicated, tireless spirit make her an ideal guide for birth.- Carla H

Chanel Washington

Chanel is a Labor Support and Postpartum Doula at Birthways, Inc., serving the greater Chicago area. Chanel has supported over 400 births in the past 5 years, and is currently a student midwife. Chanel loves meeting families from different backgrounds, and enjoys learning from each one.

As she deepens her calling in this work, Chanel strives to advocate for all her clients, and works to strengthen BIPOC communities in their bodies and births. Chanel understands the importance of unconditional support and encouragement during what can be an emotional and scary time. She recognizes that teaming with the right energies and professionals makes all the difference for you and your baby.

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The mental and emotional support I received during, before, and after birth were more than she guaranteed and truly made my time with her unforgettable. –R Nails

Janina Shorter

Janina is a certified full-spectrum doula, including labor support and postpartum care. She is a certified Community Breastfeeding Educator and in her 5th year as a Midwifery student, Janina is a wife of 17 years, a mother to 9 children and grandmother to 3, Her work is rooted back to her mother who passed away during childbirth as she has first hand experience the lasting effect of preventable maternal death and the value of taking care of every birthing person.

Before she knew the term doula she was an advocate for supporting birthing individuals for 20 years as the family doula, Janina is passionate about supporting families at all stages, She enjoys gardening, cooking , playing drums and reading. She is currently furthering her education as a student midwife and herbalist. Janina feels called this work and Birthways is a perfect organization to join.

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Strong moms create strong babies. strong babies create strong families. Strong families create strong communities. The only way we can build strength is together.

Megan Trinter

Megan Trinter joined Birthways in 2003 and offers Labor Support and Private Education, as well as occasional Postpartum care. She has provided care to infants and older children and their families since 1999 and is a mother herself.

After graduating from Pennsylvania State University with a B.S. in Human Development and Family Studies with a concentration in Children, Youth & Family Services, Megan interned at Global Yoga and Wellness Center, coordinating programs for pregnant women and new mothers. She also coordinated and attended the Childbirth Assistant Training through the Association of Labor Assistants and Childbirth Educators.

Megan has attended births at home and at nearly every major hospital in the area. She has been to over 300 births. She has supported a wide variety of families, including those planning medicated and unmedicated births, first-time mothers and families with older siblings, single mothers, water births, and VBACs. Megan brings a deep respect for birth and laboring mothers to her support of the entire expectant family. She is also certified to support HypnoBirthing couples, following training in 2015.

As a Certified Professional Midwife, Megan also brings a deeper clinical knowledge to her work. As a postpartum doula, she has worked with families with premature and multiple infants, new mothers in need of breastfeeding support, and has provided day and overnight care. Her academic and caregiving experiences, as well as her experiences as a mother, make her a great resource for new families. Megan brings decades of experience, knowledge, and skill to her work as a doula.

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Megan brought her great sense of humor, some lovely comfort measures, and the music! She was there for my entire induction and birth, so I really couldn’t have asked for more!

Megan was supportive in every regard. She rocks. We couldn’t have done it without her.

Ilana Kahn

Ilana joined the Birthways Lactation Team in 2017 and provides lactation consultation in-home and virtually to Northshore Chicago families. Ilana’s personal experiences, passion, and training have united her role as an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC). She also maintains an active status as a Registered Nurse. Ilana looks forward to nurturing new parents and babies in this dynamic relationship and helping each family find what will work best for them.

Ilana earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Maryland School of Nursing after completing a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Touro College in New York. She not only participated in a Community Health Nursing program providing home visits for lower-income pregnant and postpartum women, but she also has clinical experience in Pediatrics and Maternity as part of her education. Ilana spent a few years working on the Postpartum Unit at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, regularly supporting 4-5 new couples over the course of a 12-hour shift. She provided breastfeeding support, as well as newborn and postpartum wellness education and assessment to these new families.

As a mother herself, Ilana knows the value of having strong support systems in place and of reaching out to receive additional assistance and support if challenges or concerns arise. She looks forward to directly nurturing parents and infants through her role as an IBCLC and knows the benefits of patience and encouragement when providing breastfeeding assistance. Rooted in evidence-based practice, research and trends, Ilana is committed to helping you and your baby find your way with breastfeeding.

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Ilana is so caring, she’s very passionate about lactation work, and being able to give to the community.

My mom didn’t breastfeed, my friends didn’t breastfeed. Ilana really taught me from A to Z. She was very patient with all my questions, all the time.

Leah Lemelin

Leah is a certified labor support and postpartum doula, community leader, and care coordinator at Birthways, Inc., serving the greater Chicago area. She is a holistic caregiver and mentor of caregivers. Through her birthwork, she incorporates mind-body practices for an experience of comfort and ease each step of the journey into and through early parenthood.

Formally practicing as a doula since 2016, Leah understands that birth is a natural phenomenon experienced in our own unique way, and the postpartum time is a space that invites intentional pause and mindful care to learn about ourselves, our babies and new reality. As a fellow mother of 2 small people, she intends to bring tailored, non-judgmental and evidence-based support, resourcing the uncertainties of this special time of transition.

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I feel a calling to support women and families moving through the transformative prenatal, childbirth, and postpartum journey. My wish is to be of service to another, honoring wherever they are on their journey and whatever choices they make as a parent.

Rhona Moore

Rhona is a certified Labor Support and Postpartum Doula at Birthways, Inc., serving the greater Chicago area. With over a decade of community-based doula work, Rhona has a deep and expansive source of knowledge, skills, and physical tools to offer expectant and new parents along their journey.

Committed to staying current and well-informed on the changing landscape of maternity care, Rhona has pursued training through various organizations. She is an incredible resource, and will have thoughtful and compassionate responses to your questions.

With her background as a massage therapist and infant massage instructor, Rhona has many physical and hands-on tools for comfort measures in labor, postpartum recovery comfort, and bonding with the baby. She also loves to cook for and with families, sharing a passion for simple, nutritious and delicious meals.

The combination of her personal experiences of motherhood, grand-motherhood, and professional work have supported Rhona’s warm, calming, and reassuring presence as a doula.

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I worked with Rhona prenatally and we talked a lot about what is going on with me and my baby. During the birth, she gave me lots of positions to try and massage. She is the very reason I didn’t get an epidural and I couldn’t have done it without her. She helped me make a massaging ball and helped my partner and godmother massage me during the whole birth. I had to be induced and didn’t know what to expect. I felt so confident having her there. She explained things, got me out of bed, and helped me create a birthing plan and talk to the doctor. Rhona was a godsend after the birth with all her knowledge.

Sonrisa Hansen Parker

Sonrisa is an IBCLC and certified postpartum doula at Birthways, Inc., serving the greater Chicago area. Sonrisa will communicate thoughtfully and tune into your needs. She has a personal mindfulness meditation and yoga practice, which shows up in her care as a grounded, warm, and calming presence.

She provides individualized breastfeeding support and guidance as a lactation consultant. For new parents planning to breastfeed, Sonrisa is a knowledgeable, patient, and non-judgmental supporter as you discover what it is like to feed and nourish your baby.

Sonrisa offers a broad scope of postpartum care that can tend to the needs of the newborn, older sibling, new parents, and the household. She believes support is about the practical, the emotional, the physical, and the educational needs of growing families.

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My greatest passion in life is to support families as they transition into life with a new baby. It is such a pivotal time in the lives of parents and children, and I love helping them successfully adapt to their new roles.

Noshaba Bhatti

Noshaba (they/she) is an experienced trauma-informed, healing- centered, and evidence-based fertility, birth, and postpartum doula in the greater Chicago area. They have over fifteen years of experience providing trauma-informed, client-centered, queer and trans affirming direct services, advocacy, and education in various public health settings. A Full-Spectrum Birth Worker since 2014, they provide informational, emotional, psychological, spiritual, and physical support during the entire perinatal period. They draw on both evidence-based research and traditional wisdom to support their clients.

In addition to labor support, their expertise includes teaching people the Fertility Awareness Method to create and prevent pregnancies, providing education and support for donor inseminations (ICI and IUI), helping clients select care providers that align with their values, supporting people struggling with infertility and perinatal loss, providing postpartum care and lactation support, and providing education on newborn and infant care.

Noshaba is also a Certified Reiki Practitioner, Intuitive Energy Healer and a skilled Sexual and Reproductive Health Educator. They are deeply committed to reproductive justice and birth justice, and they believe in providing clients with all the information they need to make informed choices that are right for them. Doula clients appreciate their extensive knowledge and experience, compassionate and accessible communication style, and ability to provide comprehensive, holistic, ongoing support, education, and guidance throughout the perinatal period.

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Noshaba is so knowledgeable, caring and supportive. She is a really good listener, she got to really know me and my partner and was supportive every step of the way. Noshaba was a huge advocate for what we wanted, asking questions of medical team to ensure that decisions were consensual and they had space to make choices one step at a time. Noshaba’s touch is affirming and strong and why I could turn towards the pain. I was able to lean into her consistent support in such a vulnerable space. -Irina Z

Harmony Ogungbade

Harmony is a Postpartum, Labor Support, and Sibling Care Doula at Birthways, Inc., serving the greater Chicago area. She brings decades of childcare experience into her work as a doula. Harmony loves supporting expectant parents and families with physical and emotional support, sharing her wealth of information, facilitating communication with the medical care team, and navigating health care systems and supports. She has experience in hospital and home birth settings.

Harmony’s breadth and depth of knowledge on newborn/infant development make her an amazing resource and calming presence amidst the transitions of parenting. Harmony has experience supporting children with special needs, including sensory and developmental challenges. She is warm, friendly, and engaging – we know you’ll enjoy connecting with her!

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I feel so alive in the role of service. I am passionate about parents being well informed and empowered to have a healthy, safe birth. Whenever I have a chance to engage with an expectant or new parent I feel such privilege and responsibility. Babies give me incredible peace and I love learning new things about their growth and development – and oh, that baby smell!

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