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Specialty: Postpartum Care Day Newborn

Sarah Munoz

Sarah is a certified birth doula with over 3 years of experience providing emotional, physical, and informational support to families during pregnancy, labor, and postpartum.

As a calm and nurturing presence, Sarah empowers mothers through evidence-based education and continuous compassionate care. Her strengths lie in creating a safe, comfortable birth environment and facilitating open communication between families and medical staff. She has attended over 50 births and is highly skilled in pain management techniques like breathing exercises, massage, and labor positioning. 

Clients benefit from Sarah’s background in yoga and movement as well as mindfulness and meditation. She brings a wealth of knowledge of chronic pain and pregnancy, pelvic floor physical therapies, symphysis pubis dysfunction, and postpartum pelvic floor rehabilitation. 

Sarah is truly passionate about advocating for her clients’ birthing wishes while providing reassurance every step of the way. With a depth of knowledge and a warm, patient demeanor, she helps new parents embrace the birthing journey with confidence, support families through infertility treatments, and hold space for those suffering from pregnancy and childbirth trauma.

Brandi Reed

Brandi is a Labor Support and Postpartum Doula at Birthways, Inc., providing support for the greater Chicago area. She has supported families and children of all ages with resources and overall care. She began her caregiving journey for infants and toddlers at daycares, which transitioned to supporting children in healthcare and counseling.

Brandi’s intention behind this work is to lend a helping hand, a listening ear, and grounded presence throughout the beautiful transition of adding an addition to the family. She loves supporting in a way that works best for the family unit.

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I doula because I love babies, children and families, and I love seeing families embody happiness and healthiness. I have come to love working with families and with children, it’s beautiful work and when I discovered what a doula was, I knew it was something that I wanted to do and would love.

Ebony Johnson

Ebony is a certified Postpartum Doula at Birthways, Inc., providing daytime and overnight support for families in the greater Chicago area. Ebony is a certified full-spectrum traditional birth worker with intention to become a midwife.

With kindness and a nonjudgmental approach, Ebony is dedicated to providing personalized, holistic postpartum care that is focused on both maternal and infant wellbeing. Ebony is happy to share her expertise in West African traditional belly binding, baby soothing techniques, sleep training, self care, meal preparation, and more!

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I wholeheartedly believe that the work of a birth worker is truly divine. It brings me immense joy to witness the incredible transformations and the abundant love that surrounds the miracle of birth.

Susan Martinez

Susan is a Postpartum Doula at Birthways, Inc., providing daytime support for the greater Chicago area. She has been working with postpartum families for over three years, forming special bonds and having remarkable experiences with people from various backgrounds.

Susan was inspired to give back to moms and babies after finding a village of support among other mothers during her own postpartum experience. She is passionate about helping families with warmth and compassion, ensuring that they feel heard and valued.

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I doula to see families grow and enjoy the miracles they have created.

Emylee Shultz

Emylee is a Labor Support and Postpartum Doula at Birthways, Inc., serving the greater Chicago area. Her passion for doula work was truly awoken from her own pregnancy and postpartum experience. She believes the new normal for postpartum families includes support, resources, and rest, and she is honored to be part of that reality.

Emylee supports families during this transitional phase in their lives, helping to lay the postpartum foundation that leads to better outcomes for the entire family unit. In pursuit of obtaining her BSN, Emylee continues supporting local families during the postpartum period with a holistic approach to care.

Joy Yama

Joy is a Labor Support and Postpartum Doula at Birthways, Inc., serving the greater Chicago area. Joy has extensive experience with infants and children, as well as supporting mothers through labor and the postpartum period. Joy is passionate about coaching women through labor and supporting mothers learn to breastfeed, care for their body after birth, and build confidence in caring for their newborn.

In addition to doula work, Joy owns a licensed home daycare business. Joy is honored to be a listening ear, wealth of knowledge for new parents, and an overall support during the labor and postpartum period. Doula work brings Joy peace and happiness, as she understands the love and help needed through the journey of early parenthood.

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It is my passion to help mothers feel safe, loved, and most of all to get through that tough time before and after labor. It is my passion to be there for families that need my help and to respect their home culture, doing what they need to feel safe, confident, and rested to get their body and mind back.

Marie Renaud

Marie is a Labor Support and Postpartum Doula at Birthways, Inc., serving the greater Chicago area. Her professional background is centered around a holistic approach to reproductive health, environmental health, and the transformative power of nature.

Marie offers comprehensive support to empower new parents on their unique journeys to parenthood, drawing on the wisdom of somatic counseling and nature-based healing. Marie brings a deep commitment to fostering well-being in diverse communities, and intends to be a guiding light for new parents to become more connected to their bodies, innate intuition, and parenting instincts, while fostering a sense of empowerment and confidence in their abilities.

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I doula because I’m passionate about holistic well-being and guiding individuals through transformative experiences. My intention is to empower new parents, helping them connect with their instincts and navigate the beautiful journey of parenthood. Witnessing the resilience of families fuels my own growth and learning, and I feel honored to utilize my diverse passions to support those embarking on the transformative path of parenthood.

Jeanine O’Toole

Jeanine attended a Birthways training in 2001 and after a hiatus filled with great opportunities in her music career, returned to Birthways in 2014 as a postpartum doula. Focusing on daytime support, Jeanine brings a strong foundation and ever-deepening knowledge around women’s health and wellbeing, newborn safety and development, and lactation support.

Many in her circle of friends and acquaintances have called on her to visit and answer new parent questions and her experiences working as a private childcare provider over the years lead her to pursue this path of a postpartum doula. Jeanine brings a kind, focused attention to each family she supports, helping identity what will be most impactful now and looking ahead to future milestones.

Jeanine’s warmth puts one at ease and her thoughtful approach ensures that families will get the resources they need. She enjoys tending to the practical needs of meals, laundry, and tidying up. She is fun and creative at engaging the older siblings, and calm and soothing for the newborns and their parents.
In addition to full-term singletons, Jeanine has also cared for premature and medically-fragile infants, fussy babies, and supported older sibling adjustment. She has supported families through the Baby Blues and Perinatal Mood & Anxiety Disorders. Her awareness and sensitivity to each member of the family bring much-appreciated ease and nonjudgment into the home.

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I love to empower people to find their own way of parenting, to listen to their newborns and their own instincts. I try to give my wisdom and experience and evidence while seeing and supporting their own journey… The joyful surprise of finding what “works” is a delight for them and me.

Erika Maldonado

Erika is certified birth and postpartum doula in Chicago, IL. As a birth doula, Erika provides different comfort measures. She has experience in vaginal, C-section, VBACS, and unmediated births in birth centers as well as hospitals. Welcoming a new baby to your family can be overwhelming in so many different ways.

As a postpartum doula, Erika can provide support in many different areas. She is knowledgeable about breastfeeding, healing, self care and caring for a new baby. She has experience in daytime care, night care and multiples.

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Having Erika as my doula was like have a personal nurse assistant there all the time. It was very comforting to have Erika there postpartum – she had so much knowledge around when and how to comfort a baby, take initiative to support wherever she could in our home and provided support with our toddler, as I recovered. it was like having two moms at once. -Jenny R.

Daisy Johnson

Daisy is a holistic birth and postpartum doula, trained in Advanced Labor Support, Peer Lactation Support and Childbirth Education. She is currently pursuing her Associate’s Degree in Midwifery from the Midwest Maternal Health Institute and expects to complete the program in March 2025.She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education from the University of Illinois at Chicago. It was the experience of giving birth to her first child in 2018 that the fire for birth work was ignited in her, when she was told that day by her delivering midwife that one day she would call herself a midwife as well. Daisy has since supported over 45 births in the Chicagoland community and earned numerous advanced trainings and certifications in a myriad of areas: belly binding, herbalism, baby wearing, Mother Blessing facilitation, birth emergency skills, birth assistant training, and so much more. Her mission is to help families have safe and peaceful birth and postpartum experiences that will positively effect them for generations to come.

Daisy is a farm girl at heart, raising backyard chickens and growing food and herbs in my garden. Herbalism and creating products that heal is a practice that feeds her soul. She has coached track and field and has a passion for personal training. Daisy is an avid traveler and engages in various community education projects.

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For me, being a Doula is answering an undeniable call. The current state of infant and maternal care in America across the board motivated me to be the change we needed to see. When I began it was clear that evidence showed that having a doula produces better outcomes and experiences for birthing people. Now that i have experienced almost 5 years in this field I have seen and felt with my own eyes and heart the impact that has been made. Cycles of trauma have been broken for so many and for me that has made my entire journey more than worth it. There is still work to be done and so my fire for supporting birthing people and their families continues to burn brightly.

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