​Hello! My name is Teresa. I am a DONA International certified Birth Doula and BACE-NMC certified childbirth educator serving the Boston, Cambridge, and Merrimack Valley regions. My partner and I have two daughters, who I breastfed for a collective 24 months. I raise a little flock of backyard chickens and enjoy gardening year round. My main goal in life is to be happy and enjoy it, and I believe we humans are happiest when we are working to improve the lives of others. 

                                                                        My Story                          

In July 2008 I gave birth to my first daughter. Two years later she was diagnosed with Autism. To this day she has not spoken a word, but her smile is  contagious! She challenges me to be a better person every day and has taught me to think outside the box. In March 2014 I gave birth to my second daughter. she is an ever evolving bundle of energy, and her sister's best friend.  I feel blessed to have such a beautiful family and fortunate to have a network of extended family and friends, as well as a strong community for support. I believe that all families need  this kind of support to thrive and I feel honored to be able to do my part to help families build a strong foundation by  supporting parents through the most transformative and empowering experience of their lives.

I discovered my desire to be a birth worker through my role as a midwives' assistant in a community health center in 2005. Through that job I was provided an opportunity to train with DONA International and work as an on-call doula for Mount Auburn Hospital, providing support to non-English speaking Latina women during childbirth. Since 2005 I have attended over 190 vaginal births and 20 cesarean sections with my clients and their partners. After years of working as an on-call doula I decided to become certified so I could expand and serve more families in my community and surrounding areas. I have been certified with DONA International and taking private clients since 2012. From 2010-2013 I worked as a Family Planning Counselor across two community health centers serving an array of different populations, some privileged, some at-risk, providing education in English and Spanish on safe sex, pregnancy options, and birth control methods counseling. Through this work I  developed a deep trust in women and LGBTQI folks and the belief that each of us has an innate knowledge of our own bodies. I feel that my role as a birth doula is to provide resources, information, and practice with body conditioning, positioning, and comfort measures, as well as relaxation and visualization techniques to help pregnant people to enhance their mind-body connection so they might better see, and thereby achieve their ideal birth experience, whatever that might be. I try to meet each client where they are emotionally and practically in terms of their feelings and preferences surrounding birth and parenting choices. I will provide evidenced-based research to help you develop birth preferences if you are ambivalent, and to support your plan if you are not. I will not  impose my personal opinions. We will practice positioning and posture techniques during your pregnancy to help your baby line up correctly in your pelvis for an easier birth, and so that during labor I can more easily guide you and your birth companion to achieve joy, satisfaction, and confidence through your birthing, whether things go more or less according to plan, or take an unexpected turn or two. During labor I will be there to support you and your birth companion every step of the way. I will protect your birthing environments and hold the space for you so that you feel free to tap into your own creative power and use it as you see fit. 

This philosophy of trusting women and  non-binary parents extends into my work supporting families in the postpartum period. I believe new parents benefit greatly from a little support, nurturing, and time to let their confidence grow. Sometimes they just need someone with a little experience to let them know that it's ok to follow their natural parenting instincts. If problems or issues arise I will help you over the bumps and hiccups while encouraging you to take charge, and I can connect you with an expansive network of resources in the community to help with any areas outside of my scope of practice.
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​Recent Continuing Education:

*April 2019 GOLD Lactation Online Conference

*March 2019- WellPregnancy 3.5 hr. Breastfeeding basics review for birth professionals

*May 2018- Partners in Perinatal Health Conference

*March- May 2017-  I completed a 10 week BACE-NMC Childbirth Educator Training 

*February 2017-  I completed a Spinning Babies workshop with Lorenza Holt.

*August 2016-   I completed a CAPPA 3 day/24 hour Lactation Educator  Training, the  
                                  first step in becoming a Certified Lactation Educator.

*September 2015-   I completed a 3 day- 27 hour DONA approved postpartum Doula
                                  workshop.

* August 2015-  I  completed a 1 day Gena Kirby Rebozo workshop on  Rebozo for
                                   pregnancy and birth called, Rebozo: Make the Partner Do It.
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*April 2015-  I completed an 18 hour Indigo Doulas advanced birth doula workshop:  
                                 Using Intuition in the Birthing Room