Mother, Prenatal Educator, Activist, Doula: Roots and Wings

Kelly is a mother, an educator and a retired doula who lives in West County. She’s supported hundreds of families as a doula or educator. Her focus on hormones and the mind~body connection, intimacy and building trust during birth sets her teaching apart from the standard birth class- participants leave feeling excited and confident about birthing their family. Kelly is also the Center Coordinator at Thrive, and when she’s not sitting on a birth ball with a model pelvis in her hands, she’s creating forums to raise awareness and expand access to midwifery options in Sonoma County. Kelly has written an on-going column about reproductive experiences in SQUAT Birth Journal and has been included in the anthology Birth Work As Care Work. She has taken workshops through DONA, LAMAZE, Cornerstone Doula Trainings, Gail Tully, Rachel Yellin, Foundation of the Sacred Stream, California Institute of Massage and Spa (massage therapy program, 600 hours), Final Passages and is a Certified University of California Naturalist. She was one of the founders of the Bay Area Doula Project, and prior to birth work, worked as a community and union organizer within public sector hospitals which gives her a unique perspective into advocacy and healthcare policy. As a community organizer she trained at the National Labor College (Maryland), Summer Institute of Union Women (Hawaii), Union Skills Workshops through Cornell University (NYC), and the Praxis Peace Institute (California). She enjoys a seat on the Board of Thrive's non-profit Friends of Thrive, which works to secure funding for low income families choosing to birth out of hospital. She is happiest when she is with her daughter and dog in the woods, taking photographs of mushrooms and bees, or eating a meal cooked by her partner. 

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