All families, all births.
MyBirth finds its foundation in our work as professional birth doulas. Beginning with the premise that all families deserve unequivocal support during pregnancy and childbirth, birth doulas are experts that offer physical, informational, and emotional support through the journey to parenthood. Whether welcoming your first child or adding a new sibling, your doula will share knowledge about birth options, resources, comfort measures, and the transition to life with your new baby. The MyBirth doulas believe that there is no "right way" to have a baby, just what is right for you; whether at home or in the hospital, unmedicated or with an epidural, vaginal or cesarean birth, our goal is that you feel confident and supported in your birth choices.
MyBirth Doula services include but are not limited to:
Five Prenatal Consultations
Unlimited support via phone/text/email
Support through all of labor
Two Postpartum Consultations
Access to our extensive library of client resources
Guaranteed back-up coverage from MyBirth doulas
Discounts on all education classes including childbirth education and lactation
One free prenatal yoga class in the MyBirth Community Studio
Our Birth Doula Team
Emily Bruno, BIS, CPD, CBE
Emily is a trained, professional birth doula (previous ALACE/ToLabor doula training and certification with Thérèse Hak-Kuhn, as well as full-spectrum with Doula Trainings International), practicing since January, 2007, and is the founder and owner of MyBirth. As a current student at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, she is completing her Masters of Science in Midwifery, and will practice as a Certified Midwife in Virginia. Emily draws on her knowledge and experience to provide physical, emotional, and informational support to birthing people and their partners as they navigate welcoming their new babies. With an educational background in Interdisciplinary Studies as well as Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies, Emily integrates concepts of intersectional feminism, reproductive justice, and person-centered care. She has completed trainings and workshops for breastfeeding education, Perinatal Loss and Grief, acupressure for pregnancy and birth with Dr. Keith Bell, and Spinning Babies Techniques. Emily's personal experience includes her own homebirth cesarean in 2008, her hospital VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean) in 2013, her eight years facilitating the MyBirth VBAC & Cesarean Support Group, and offering private VBAC consults. Emily believes that everyone deserves the opportunity to birth in a peaceful and supportive environment, and has a particular passion for the prevention of unnecessary cesareans and the access to and promotion of safe VBAC. When not attending births or slogging her way through pathophysiology homework, Emily can be found reading, riding horses, traveling, or gardening.
Emily’s fees for birth doula support: $2000, $1800 for repeat clients. Click HERE for Emily's doulamatch profile, where you can find testimonials and info on availability, and contact her directly.
Sara Krivanec, BA, CD(DTI), CLC, IBCLC
Sara holds a Bachelor’s in Women’s Studies from Virginia Commonwealth University, and is a certified birth doula with DTI (Doula Trainings International). She has been attending births since 2001. She came to this work after her own cesarean, wanting to support and educate others in understanding their options and facilitating a positive birth experience. She went on to give birth twice by VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean) and has attended over 400 births in her 25 year career. Although her passion is educating clients about low-intervention childbirth and VBAC, she supports people through any type of birth and provides evidence-based information so that they can make decisions that they feel good about. It’s so important that the person giving birth feels heard and knows that their decisions are respected no matter what. Sara’s additional trainings include Penny Simkin, Ina May Gaskin, Spinning Babies, Acupressure with Dr. Keith Bell, and ALACE (ToLabor) doula training and certification with Thérèse Hak-Kuhn. She also has extensive training in Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders (PMADs), perinatal loss, and offers private VBAC consults. She co-facilitates a free, monthly Postpartum Support Virginia support group called Holding Space. Sara is a Certified Lactation Counselor (CLC) and an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC). She provides breastfeeding consults and teaches MyBirth’s lactation classes and comprehensive childbirth education class, My Birth Class. Sara enjoys building strong relationships with her clients and sees every day that birth can be healthy and normal. Preparing with an open heart and mind, she sees couples excited and ready to give birth. Sara is the mother of three, all young adults, and is so proud to support them in their love of woodworking, music, ASL, theater, and soccer. Her own hobbies include reading mysteries, learning everything she can about lactation, attending theatre productions, and making herbal medicine.
Sara’s fees for birth doula support: $2000, $1800 for repeat clients. Click HERE for Sara's doulamatch profile, where you can find testimonials and info on availability, and contact her directly.
Rachel Brown, CD (DONA)
Rachel is a certified birth doula trained and certified through DONA International. Having clinically assisted births for over 10 years, she witnessed first-hand the need of basic support for the birthing parent and their families. She advocates for finding your ideal birth team whether you’re a first-time parent wary of the uncharted territory of labor or a seasoned parent hoping for a better birth experience. From her own experiences providing family planning and gender-affirming care, she believes in serving all humans, all families, through all phases of pregnancy and reproductive experiences. It is her greatest passion to provide a safe and familiar connection to LGBTQIA+ families seeking pregnancy and birth support. Her additional trainings include: Perinatal Loss and Grief, Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders, and Breast/Chestfeeding education.
Rachel and her wife moved to Richmond in 2018, became foster parents in 2020, and have the joy of parenting two sons. When she’s not at a birth, she loves hot yoga, exploring hiking trails, baking, and movie nights at home cuddling her pets and family.
Rachel’s fees for birth doula support: $2000, $1800 for repeat clients. Click HERE for Rachel's doulamatch profile, where you can find testimonials and info on availability, and contact her directly.
Keisha Graham, CPD, CBE
Reproductive Justice has been the core of Keisha’s professional and personal life. As a professionally trained full spectrum doula (DTI, ToLabor, Richmond Reproductive Freedom Project) and childbirth educator (MyBirth), she has spent over the last 13 years learning and advocating for the rights for all people to have safe and satisfying reproductives experiences and outcomes. Keisha has supported births in-person and virtually all over the country, with families of all variations, and understands the nuance of those dynamics. Keisha is a forever student of life and embraces how each new experience with a new family means a new personal perspective on how support can look different in a variety of ways.
Personally Keisha is a mother, partner, daughter, sister, friend, and lover of all thing A.S.O.I.A.F, traveling and sweets.
Keisha’s fees for birth doula support: $2000, $1800 for repeat clients. Click HERE for Keisha's doulamatch profile, where you can find testimonials and info on availability, and contact her directly.
Gabrielle Wade, BS, PD, PPD (DONA)
Gabrielle has been attending births for 6 years and comes to MyBirth under two doula trainings, Shafia Monroe Consulting and DONA. She has a passion for birth work, lactation support and believes it is a basic right that all people deserve to have a well rounded, informed, and sacred birth and postpartum experience. Her passion for birth work is evident in her ability to connect, recognize, and advocate the needs of her clients. Empowering and supporting women during this intimate experience are fundamentals to the goal of a healthy mama, heathy baby dynamic. Women simply need the space to be heard and protected, which in turn will answer the call to reducing negative birth outcomes, especially in the minority community. She also has a holistic approach to pregnancy, labor, and postpartum care, incorporating her training and knowledge of the power of essential oils. Gabrielle has personal birthing experiences in a hospital and home birth setting delivering her two children, one son and daughter, using Hypnobirthing techniques. Gabrielle enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, volunteering with community organizations, enjoying a good brunch with friends, and binging a great Netflix or reality series (thanks, COVID!).
Gabrielle’s fees for birth doula support: $2000, $1800 for repeat clients. Click HERE for Gabrielle’s doulamatch where you can find testimonials and info on her availability, and contact her directly.
Katherine Ward Marsh, PD
Katherine is a ToLabor trained professional doula who is currently working towards her certification, she expects to complete it by December, 2021. She is also a postpartum doula, having completed trainings with both DONA and Cornerstone. Katherine’s passion to pursue birth work full time grew from the birth of her own daughter, and becoming a first time parent in the middle of a global pandemic. She believes that feeling confident in yourself, your birthing team and your body makes all the difference when it’s time to welcome your baby and pays special attention to her client’s mental health throughout both their third and fourth trimesters. Katherine has drawn inspiration and experience from her time growing up in the Netherlands when it comes to birth and parenting, where midwifery and home birth is integrated in the national healthcare system; Katherine is fluent in both Dutch and English, and is working towards proficiency in Spanish. Her goal as a doula is to ensure your comfort and safety, and nourish your confidence as you embark on this exciting chapter as a team! When Katherine is not at a birth, she enjoys spending time with her partner and their daughter, tending to her garden, playing with her dogs and listening to true crime podcasts.
Katherine’s fees for birth doula support: $2000, $1800 for repeat clients. Click HERE for Katherine’s Doulamatch where you can find testimonials , info on her availability, and contact her directly.
Sarah Fielding, BS, CLC, PD
Sarah completed her doula training in 2016 with ToLabor (Therese Hak-Kuhn) and is working towards her professional certification. She holds a Bachelors in Music Education from Virginia Commonwealth University. Having experienced a wide variety of outcomes welcoming her own five children - one unmedicated hospital birth, one home birth transfer cesarean, and three home birth VBACs (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean) - Sarah has learned there is no one right way to give birth, just what’s right for each parent and baby. She believes every family deserves unwavering support during the birth year. As a mother to five children, Sarah has nine years of personal breastfeeding experience and is a Certified Lactation Counselor (CLC) through the Healthy Children’s Project. She enjoys co-facilitating MyBirth VBAC and cesarean support group and loves holding space for parents’ stories and providing support on their healing journey, and trained in Acupressure for Birth Attendants with Dr. Keith Bell. Sarah also has extensive professional experience in facilitating parenting and breastfeeding social media groups. In addition to birth work, Sarah is the MyBirth office manager. She enjoys growing her community by volunteering as board treasurer at her children’s school, and while at home loves snuggling her Yorkie, cultivating her growing houseplant collection, and cooking for family and friends.
Sarah’s fees for birth doula support: $2000, $1800 for repeat clients. Click HERE for Sarah’s Doulamatch where you can find testimonials , info on her availability, and contact her directly.
Dominique Eborn, BSN, RN, CYT, PD
Dominique is a Registered Nurse earning her BSN from VCU. She is also a trained, professional doula (having received her doula certification from Embodied Birth Doula Training and Full Spectrum Doula training from Birth in Color) and a Certified Yoga Teacher (training with Bhav Brigade). As a nurse, Dominique practices as a Labor and Delivery RN and aims to provide the best and safest birthing experience to her patients. At the core of her work is advocacy, she aims to ensure her patients'/clients' wishes and rights are acknowledged and honored. Always willing to learn even more, Dominique has attended workshops and trainings with Bundle Birth and Spinning Babies. She is currently a graduate student with Frontier Nursing University earning her Nurse-Midwifery Masters Degree. Her dream is to become a community midwife caring for women and children that uninsured and/or under-insured.
In her free time, Dominique loves to hike, camp, roller-skate and hang with her amazing son, Dominic.
Dominique’s fees for birth doula support: $2000, $1800 for repeat clients. Click HERE for Dominique's doulamatch profile, where you can find testimonials and info on availability, and contact her directly.