Free Consultation Archives - Page 9 of 9

Ilana Kahn

Ilana joined the Birthways Lactation Team in 2017. 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!

Diana Sullivan

Diana is a postpartum doula at Birthways, Inc., serving the greater Chicago area with a passion for supporting new families. She is knowledgeable and experienced with fussy and colicky babies, support for the baby blues and perinatal mood disorders, and has worked with twin families. Diana is happy to meet the practical needs of the family, knowing that a nap, a clean kitchen, or delicious meal are just as important as the reassurance or guidance she has to offer.

Diana believes in creating an environment of honesty and trust by communicating openly and authentically while respecting the opinions of others. She values listening to the needs and concerns of families she serves and responding with a sense of urgency and compassion, striving to always respect individuality and embrace diversity and inclusion.

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Diana was a tremendous support—moral, emotional, physical—prior to the birth of my twins. She’s been one of the top people to help out since their birth and during my return to work, she has gladly pitched in and helped watch them. She’s one of the first people I reach out to.

Brit Garling-Brackins

Brit is a certified Labor Support Doula and Perinatal/Lactation Educator at Birthways, Inc., serving the greater Chicago area & bringing years of experience and love for learning to this work as a certified doula.

As a labor support doula, Brit has supported hundreds of clients and still approaches each birth as its own unique experience. With a wealth of knowledge and information about maternity care, evidence-based practices, and area providers/birth locations, Brit will support you in navigating your own preferences and priority for your birth experience through prenatal preparation, day-of support for labor, delivery, and the immediate postpartum time. Brit has supported first-time parents, growing families, those preparing for VBAC or twin arrivals, and brings her calm and skillful presence to whatever may arise. Warm and passionate about this work of caring for new families, Brit exhibits a deep commitment to helping families find what is appropriate for them.

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Brit’s presence was exactly what we needed to eliminate fear and help us focus on bringing our sweet baby into the world.

I cannot overstate how valuable Brit’s support was as we ramped up to the labor and for the delivery itself. It was so great to be able to call her up and get her perspective [in the last week of the pregnancy]. At the birth itself, her physical and emotional support to both me and my partner was so important.

Ruby Daniel

Ruby Daniel is a certified Labor Support, Sibling Care, and Postpartum doula at Birthways, Inc., serving the greater Chicago area. Ruby is passionate about labor support and understands the importance of informing families of their care options in every situation so that they feel prepared and empowered to have an informed, safe, and intentional birth experience. She supports families in celebrating the challenges and joys of pregnancy, and welcoming a new family member.

Alongside her professional qualifications, Ruby is a theater artist in Chicago, enjoys exploring the city and seeing live music, is an avid cook, loves to help take care of family pets, and is more than willing to keep your home tidy and clean. Ruby will also be happy to share her personal experiences with holistic and alternative medicines, herbal remedies, yoga, breathwork, and holistic body practices.

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I am passionate about smoothing the transition and sharing knowledge about the postpartum journey so families are equipped to be successful and handle challenges from day one. I doula so that I can witness, lift up, and facilitate the unique bond between a new arrival and the family they are coming into, while ensuring the parents feel that they’re supported, heard, and not alone.

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