From your first trimester to your baby's first months.

“You don’t know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have.”

Tara Campbell is a certified Birth Doula (2001), a Birth Doula Trainer with DONA International (2006) and a Childbirth Educator through Lamaze International (2003). She founded Birthing Gently in 2002, led the Birthing Gently Maternal Health Community Doula Program (BGMH) from 2013 to 2025, and launched the MassHealth Doula Collective in 2025. She has trained thousands of birth doulas since 2006 and serves as the Director of Certification for DONA International.

She works as an adolescent and cesarean section educator with obstetrical patients at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and teaches DONA International Birth Doula workshops. She works closely with the Birthing Gently team and manages daily administrative tasks.

Tara takes high-risk clients on a limited basis. She also accepts high-profile clients who need an added layer of discretion, autonomy and confidentiality, and has worked with celebrities, professional athletes, executives, community leaders and public officials.

Tara’s main area of interest is Maternal-Fetal Medicine and high-risk OB/GYN patients at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, including:

We must give our clients the unbiased tools they need to make informed, evidence-based decisions about their care, so they can enter labor with a clear, educated and open mind. Everyone, whether they choose an unmedicated, medicated or cesarean birth, needs our support and quality care.

Tara’s style is a bit more direct and no-nonsense. She will help you focus, redirect and adapt as birth unfolds. You are in control more than you know. Don’t let fear be the roadblock! Working with certain providers, she has been at the forefront of bringing the Family Centered Cesarean approach to her clients.

Tara built her knowledge working in antepartum, the newborn nursery, the OR, post-op, pediatrics, the emergency department and postpartum. It wasn’t long before she realized that “home” was the labor and delivery unit, and that passion set her on the doula path. She has also been a childbirth educator in hospitals, private institutions and federally funded community programs, with a focus on curriculum for teens and families expecting multiples.

Tara has five children, Evian (1996), Shelby (2002), Kendal (2003), Hailee (2006) and Katheryn (2009), and one grandson (2025). She didn’t have a doula at her first two deliveries, but did at her third, fourth and fifth, which were scheduled cesareans. The difference amazed her: far less anxiety, greater birth satisfaction and an easier recovery.

In her spare time, Tara enjoys time with her family, hiking and paddleboarding with her cockapoo Bubbles, skiing, running, and drag racing her Dodge Challenger SRT in the quarter mile. She is co-administrator of the East Coast Challenger Car Club and loves all things motorsports.

“Birth is the culmination of a nine-month journey that ends with the celebration of a new life.”

Francine was inspired to become a birth doula through her work as a registered nurse. She has more than twenty years of experience in critical care and emergency nursing at Boston Children’s Hospital, and caring for newborns and children showed her how much holistic, family-centered care improves outcomes. As both a nurse and a doula, she is a strong believer in evidence-based practice.

As a former Life Flight nurse, Francine attended births and transported high-risk obstetric patients and newborns to higher levels of care. She is a past Neonatal Resuscitation instructor and has lectured nationally and internationally on neonatal and pediatric emergency care.

A high-risk pregnancy can mean a greater chance of complications or medical interventions. An experienced doula can answer your questions and offer suggestions and encouragement that ease your anxiety.

Francine is passionate about teaching families and birth partners about the birth process. At your first prenatal meeting, she’ll help you create a personalized birth plan covering each stage of labor and the comfort measures that suit you, like staying home as long as possible and moving freely during contractions.

Birth asks you to reach deep and find your own strength. Francine will walk you through your choices, help you create a calm and sacred space, and stay by your side with continuous emotional, physical and informational support so you feel empowered and confident.

When she isn’t celebrating a birth, Francine enjoys hiking in the White Mountains, visiting farmers markets and cooking farm-to-table meals.

The ideal birth environment of your choosing, no matter what that looks like.

Mary’s core passion is optimal family health and wellness. She has a long background attending out-of-hospital births and had her own children outside a hospital setting. Her approach, though, is simply to help each family have the ideal birth environment of their choosing, whatever that may look like.

As a doula, Mary has helped families move seamlessly into their new family life, whether it’s a first baby, an additional baby, or a birth after a particularly traumatic earlier one. Her multi-faceted approach to health and wellness lets her work with clients in a personal, tender, open and compassionate way.

Mary brings nearly three decades of practice in Oriental and natural medicine and is widely trained in holistic healthcare, with a focus on preventive care using a Functional Medicine approach. Combining natural healing arts with an understanding of Western medical diagnostics, she has helped many clients build powerful yet gentle programs for health and healing. She is known for working with unique or seemingly perplexing health issues, looking for the root cause in terms of mind, body and spirit.

Mary’s primary licensure is through the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine, and she is nationally certified by the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. Her programs take a bio-individualized approach to clinical nutrition. Among many continuing education studies, she completed The Institute for Integrative Nutrition program and went on to mentor its students. She is also well versed in acute medical situations after nearly two decades with the Dover EMS department.

Mary recently had the honor of being at the birth of her first grandchild and helping out postpartum, and she is loving this new role in her family. She has kept a daily hot yoga practice for many years and has been a competitive swimmer since she was young. She sees these practices as essential to walking her talk and keeping the energy that lets her pursue what still sets her soul on fire.

A birth where you feel safe, loved, and empowered.

Joanne completed her birth doula training and certification through DONA International and has worked with Birthing Gently since 2018. She has attended nearly 200 births and is comfortable supporting every kind of birth, including unmedicated births, medicated births and VBACs (vaginal birth after cesarean). She has attended Spinning Babies® workshops, trained with the HypnoBirthing Institute and is certified as a HypnoBirthing® Support Person. She is also a Certified Lactation Counselor (CLC) through the Academy of Lactation Policy and Practice.

Joanne is passionate about helping her clients feel safe and empowered, both during pregnancy and in labor and birth. She brings maturity, experience and calming guidance, and she is collaborative by nature, working seamlessly with your whole care team, from family members to medical staff.

Over more than 20 years of yoga and meditation, Joanne has found that the skills she practices, like breathing, linking breath with movement, clearing the mind and focusing, are wonderfully useful for birthing people.

Her two daughters were born in the hospital without any medical intervention, and those two positive birth experiences led her to doula work. Her joy in working with birthing people and their loved ones has kept her on this path, and she wants to share that same positive experience with other families.

Joanne had the honor of being the “Nana” doula at the birth of her first grandchild, and she is still chasing around a very active toddler, the love of her life. Before her calling as a birth doula, she earned a Master’s degree in the Arts and Humanities and worked for over twenty years with a historic preservation organization. She stays active hiking, skiing and figure skating, working on her figures, ice dancing, jumps and spins.

Joanne looks forward to hearing from you and would be honored to guide you through your birth.

Every family deserves to feel heard, respected, and empowered.

For the past 27 years, Heidi has cared for families across a wide range of nursing roles, including maternal-child health, NICU, labor and delivery, postpartum care, pediatrics and community health. That experience has given her a deep understanding of what families need most during some of life’s most tender and transformative moments.

Her passion for supporting families led her to become a doula and Certified Placenta Encapsulation Specialist, so she can offer compassionate, personalized support across the whole reproductive journey, from the earliest weeks of pregnancy through the postpartum season and beyond.

Heidi believes every family deserves to feel heard, respected and empowered. It is a profound honor for her to walk alongside her clients with compassion, empathy and unwavering support as they navigate pregnancy, birth, postpartum and everything that comes with it.

Heidi is the proud mom of three amazing adult children, and family is at the center of everything she does. She loves traveling, photography and making memories with the people she loves. Her travels, especially along the Adriatic coast of Croatia, gave her a deep appreciation for beauty, stillness and the unhurried presence she brings to every client.

No one should feel alone during this journey.

Mary is a birth and postpartum doula serving families in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Becoming a parent to her two children was one of the most eye-opening and transformative experiences of her life, and it’s what led her to doula work. She understands how essential it is for families to feel informed, respected and genuinely supported through pregnancy, birth and the postpartum period.

Mary brings both heart and science to her work. She has a background in Biology and is a Certified Lactation Counselor (CLC). She currently works on a maternity unit, where she is completing her clinical hours toward becoming an IBCLC and gaining extensive hands-on experience with infant feeding, postpartum recovery and early parenting.

Mary’s approach is warm, grounded and centered on advocacy. She is a fierce advocate for her clients, offering evidence-based education, calm reassurance and support in navigating medical systems. She is deeply committed to helping families ask questions, speak up for themselves and make informed decisions that fit their values and needs.

Mary believes no one should feel alone during this journey, and she is honored to provide steady, compassionate care during such a meaningful time.

Where breath meets memory, where culture meets care.

Dawn is a Belizean-born healer whose work lives where breath meets memory, where culture meets care, and where the human spirit remembers its own resilience. For more than two decades, she has walked beside individuals and families through seasons of birth, loss, becoming and return, offering presence, steadiness and a kind of listening that feels like home.

As a trauma-informed, MassHealth-certified Full-Spectrum Doula, Dawn tends to the whole reproductive journey: the first flutter of hope, the quiet ache of uncertainty, the sacred work of postpartum healing, and the tender terrain of perinatal loss. Her advanced training in maternal mental health, postpartum support, high-risk pregnancy, and grief and bereavement lets her hold what is fragile with reverence and what is powerful with awe.

As a Mental Health Clinician, Dawn works at the roots, where generational stories live, cultural wounds echo, and healing begins its slow, steady bloom. She supports veterans, families, postpartum parents and individuals across the lifespan, weaving together trauma-focused care, grief work and the wisdom of lived experience.

For over a decade she has taught Human Services, Mental Health and College Success courses, pairing academic skill-building with trauma-informed teaching, belonging and identity exploration. Her style is warm, intentional and deeply relational, rooted in the belief that every person carries wisdom, resilience and a story worth honoring.

Through Inner Garden Collaboration, Dawn creates herbal products, fairy gardens, aromatherapy experiences and sensory-based wellness workshops that invite people back into their bodies, their breath and their inner knowing. Lavender, sage, chamomile and basil each become a companion in her healing work, each scent a doorway back to calm.

Whether in the birth room, the classroom or the community, Dawn’s presence is steady and compassionate, reflecting her lifelong commitment to holistic healing, cultural affirmation, and supporting families through life’s most tender transitions.

“I want to help turn your birth experience into a positive memory.”

Sabrina is a Cape Verdean birth and postpartum doula and an aspiring midwife. Powerful stories of midwifery care from her family in the Cape Verdean islands, and hearing about her aunts’ roles as doulas at family births, inspire her to give birthing people the very best care. She believes birth brings us together and is a miracle that should be treated with respect, comfort and love, and she attends every birth with positivity and reverence.

Sabrina graduated from Salem State University with a Bachelor’s in Biology and a minor in Chemistry. After a year providing doula support, she accepted an offer to continue her studies at Birthwise Midwifery School in Maine. Her science background gives her a deeper understanding of medical care during pregnancy, and Birthwise is expanding her passion for holistic care. Growing up with five siblings gave her a deep love for birth work and infant care, and seeing the love between parents and their children is one of her favorite parts of what she does.

Along with birth support, Sabrina offers:

She loves getting crafty with diaper cakes and belly casting for anyone willing to let her get covered in plaster, and she’ll happily sing (poorly) in your kitchen.

Most importantly, Sabrina is always looking to give you and your family the best support through this life transition.

Sometimes the most valuable thing a doula can bring is calm in the middle of uncertainty.

Melissa brings 8 years of experience as a birth doula and 9 years as a Certified Lactation Counselor (CLC) to her work supporting families through pregnancy, birth and the transition into parenthood. She has worked with hundreds of families and experienced a wide range of births and family circumstances.

Alongside her private clients, Melissa spent 7 years on a hospital maternity floor as both a birth doula and CLC, working closely with medical teams through routine and complex pregnancies and births. She was often called to the NICU to help with breastfeeding and feeding challenges, supporting families whose babies needed extra medical care or had more complex feeding needs.

From straightforward births to complex pregnancies, unexpected interventions, NICU stays and changes in birth plans, Melissa has seen it all, and that breadth is one of her greatest strengths. She knows every birth is different, and she stays calm, flexible and supportive when things don’t go exactly as planned. Her experience helps her recognize when something is outside the expected course, adapt as plans change, and keep offering steady, nonjudgmental support.

Her care is individualized, knowledgeable and evidence-based, helping families feel informed, confident and heard. She is also Spinning Babies® trained, giving her extra tools for comfort and optimal fetal positioning throughout pregnancy and labor.

Melissa has extensive experience with breastfeeding and infant feeding, including more complex situations and babies who need additional support. She knows the transition into parenthood continues well beyond the delivery room and offers compassionate support through those first important days and weeks.

Above all, she wants every family she works with to feel respected, informed, supported and confident in their own birth experience.

“I know what you are feeling. Let’s do it together.”

Pam’s life in the world of birth began more than 30 years ago, when she shadowed a friend who was an OB/GYN. That time fed a part of her she hadn’t known existed.

She will never forget her first birth. While the doctor was with another patient, Pam was drawn to a room where a young woman was in active labor with her partner by her side. She saw the fear in her eyes and knew she needed comfort. Pam spoke to her softly and rubbed her back, and as the pain grew stronger, they breathed slowly together while Pam reassured her that she was designed by God to do this. Finding strength in those words, the mother delivered her baby shortly after. As Pam left the room, the new mom said, “Thank you so much, your presence gave me strength to deliver!” Pam knew then that she had a God-given gift for supporting families in birth, and that spark has stayed with her ever since.

Many women in Pam’s care have said her hands produce magic results. She says her two hands are gifts she has been granted, and each comforting touch says, “I know what you are feeling, let’s do it together.” Birth is truly a labor of love, and Pam believes our bodies are fearfully and wonderfully made for it. She is passionate about building women’s confidence and helping them fulfill their birth plans.

Pam has been married to her amazing husband for 34 years and is the mother of two incredible adult children. She is so grateful for their support as she continues this work.

“My foremost priority is helping my clients feel safe, heard, and cared for.”

As a birth and certified postpartum doula and a longtime nanny, Nina’s foremost priority is helping her clients feel safe, heard and cared for. She believes that coming to the table with warmth, compassion and an open heart creates trust from the very beginning. She is honored to call herself a doula and feels lucky to have found her calling early in life.

Strong communication and compassionate connection have always been her signature strengths. After graduating in 2020 with a B.A. in Sociology from UMass Amherst, with childcare experience from infancy to early adolescence, she set out to build a life that combined her skills and passions. When she first learned about the role of a doula, she knew right away it was her path.

Nina’s long-term goal is to specialize in birth and postpartum support for people entering pregnancy with pre-existing mood disorders, as well as those experiencing perinatal mood disorders after birth. She is passionate about compassionate, hands-on care where mental health and family support meet, and about making in-home support more accessible to families.

Birth and postpartum care each call on different skills, and getting to offer both is magical for her. From prenatal visits to the delivery room to the days and weeks after, she provides safe, evidence-based, compassionate support during these vulnerable times.

Beyond childcare, birth and postpartum work, Nina is a lover of yoga, a master of baking, and best friend to her sister’s dog, Miso!

Birthing families deserve dignity, autonomy, and compassion.

Margaret is a caretaker and nurturer who invests deeply in her communities. Through her work at The Family Van, a mobile health clinic that improves access to screenings and resources with a holistic, relationship-centered approach, she has experience in health equity and education, and she knows firsthand how transformative accompaniment and presence can be for individuals, families and communities.

Margaret has felt called to birth work since she was a teenager. She is certified as a birth doula through DONA International after completing her training with Tara, and she completed supplemental training in Dancing For Birth™, an evidence-based movement and perinatal education method that supports physiological birth. She has experience with VBACs and inductions and offers support in both English and Spanish.

Margaret believes birthing families deserve dignity, autonomy and compassion as they prepare to welcome new life. With a background in Anthropology, she is inspired by the long history of people helping each other through pregnancy and birth, and she is honored to be part of this incredible work.

Originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota, Margaret is a lifelong learner interested in the intersections of ecological connection, spirituality and social change. In her free time she grows and works with plants and herbs, spends time outside, reads and bakes. She has also been a tap dancer for over 15 years!

Equal access to care, and better birth stories for every family.

Lantarra is a dedicated birth doula. Her mission is to promote equal access to healthcare and to help every family leave their birth with a story they feel good about telling.

She is passionate about supporting families through pregnancy and childbirth, offering personalized care, education and emotional support. Whether you’re a first-time parent or adding to your family, Lantarra is committed to helping you have a positive, empowering birth experience.

Lantarra is a strong advocate for the families she supports, and she’s a big believer in movement during labor to help you stay comfortable and help your baby find their way. Above all, she brings positive, fun energy into every birth space.

Lantarra gets to know you during your prenatal visits, learning what matters most to you, answering your questions and helping you prepare. When labor begins, she’s by your side with continuous support, comfort measures and encouragement, and she helps you understand your options so you can make informed decisions with your care team.

After your baby arrives, she checks in at your postpartum visit to talk through your birth and make sure you’re feeling supported as you begin this new chapter.

Compassionate, reliable, attentive care for your growing family.

Hailee is a postpartum doula with a strong passion for supporting families and caring for children. She has more than four years of experience as a part-time nanny, where she built hands-on skills in childcare, communication and family support.

She is currently studying Health Science at Merrimack College and is a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA). Working with children has always been part of her life, shaping her commitment to compassionate, reliable and attentive care. She is dedicated to continuing to grow in healthcare and childcare while making a positive difference for the families she serves.

Hailee is comfortable caring for multiple children in the home and loves helping families build calm, steady routines. She prefers long-term bookings and, for the right family, has the opportunity to grow into a nanny position.

Hailee is one of five siblings and the daughter of Birthing Gently founder Tara Campbell, so supporting families truly runs in hers.

Your champion and your teammate.

Throughout her careers in social work and business, Emily’s focus has always been serving others. She has supported countless women, mothers, children and families through her work in mental health, substance use, nonprofits and education.

Her decision to become a doula later in her career grew from that same commitment to service. Emily believes in the extraordinary magic of support and its transformative effects. Birth is perhaps the most sacred and humbling life experience, and it deserves the utmost attention and care. To offer even more support, Emily is also a Certified Lactation Counselor®.

A lifelong athlete and former college basketball player, Emily will be your champion and teammate, helping you tap into your own strength and confidence. She offers grounding and stability during this life transition, so you feel empowered to make the best decisions for you and your family.

After many years in New York, Emily now lives on the South Shore with her family. In her spare time, she plays competitive tennis.

Comfort, autonomy and empowered choices for the birth you desire.

Amariah completed her doula training in January 2020 with one of her many mentors, Lorenza Holt, just months before the Covid-19 pandemic. She was moved to this work by the experiences of Black women in her life who had difficult births, by the rising maternal mortality rate among Black birthing people nationally, and by her work at Brockton’s COPE Center needle exchange program and at Women’s Lunch Place, supporting women who had experienced pregnancy while facing substance use disorder, homelessness or mental health challenges.

That experience carried naturally into her work as a community doula with Boston Medical Center’s Birth Sister Program beginning in July 2020, and with Accompany Doula Care that same year, centering care for Black birthing people and other birthing people of color.

Amariah works to nurture a sense of comfort and autonomy over your body during pregnancy and birth, along with empowered decision making for the birth you desire. She helps birthing people and their partners reconnect with the harmonious movement of parent and baby, prenatally and during birth, a connection many people feel separated from in modern OB/GYN care.

Together you may practice stretches, yoga positions, movement to music and daily exercises, drawing on her training in Spinning Babies and on similar models from Mexican-Indigenous tradition and U.S. Southern and Caribbean Black midwifery traditions. She also loves to share herbs, essential oils and nutrition changes that may help promote a beautiful birth.

Amariah grew up in Dorchester and Brockton and is based in the greater Brockton and Boston areas. When she isn’t supporting families, you’ll find her doing advocacy work, discovering new herbs and oils, slowly advancing her yoga practice, or in the studio writing and recording music as an up-and-coming local singer-songwriter.

Every family deserves support, knowledge and confidence, during birth and beyond.

Stephanie has spent her life caring for people and serving her community. Her journey began long before her doula training, with a master’s degree in public health, and she shares her skills professionally, as a community leader and as an advocate. Stephanie serves on her town’s Board of Health, where she helps guide local health policy and ensure families have the resources they need to thrive.

Alongside her professional work, Stephanie has always been drawn to nurturing and supporting others through life’s transitions. As the mother of three, and through years of volunteer and church service, she has walked beside women, families and youth: listening, mentoring and building lasting connections.

Stephanie felt called to bring her experience full circle, combining her passion for public health with her love of caring for people by becoming a birth doula. Warm, grounded in evidence and calm in even the most stressful moments, she believes every family deserves support, knowledge and a sense of confidence during birth and beyond.

She is fluent in Haitian Creole, conversant in French, and loves helping families from all backgrounds feel seen, heard and cared for.

Every family is unique, and every family deserves compassionate support.

Krista has been caring for new families as a postpartum doula since 2006. She is an Advanced Postpartum Doula and Postpartum Doula Trainer certified through DONA International, and an Advanced Lactation Consultant through the Academy of Lactation Policy and Practice. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Family Studies at the University of New Hampshire and has taught as an adjunct professor in the Early Childhood Education department at Great Bay College.

One of the most experienced postpartum doulas in the area, Krista is a true leader in the field. As a DONA International Postpartum Doula Trainer, she helps prepare the next generation of postpartum doulas. Krista also serves on the DONA International Board of Directors as Director of Membership, alongside our founder Tara Campbell, DONA’s Director of Certification.

After six years with the Seacoast Doula Group, Krista co-founded Great Bay Doulas in 2011. In 2018 she went on to found Relief Parenting Respite & Resource Center, and in 2023 she published her first book, My Baby, Our Doula, and Me.

Krista has cared for newborns, siblings and parents in many different settings, in the United States and abroad. She brings deep knowledge of parent-child attachment, family dynamics, growth and development, and family support. She believes every family is unique and deserves compassionate care, so parents can build the confidence, skills and resources for a strong family foundation.

Krista lives on the New Hampshire Seacoast with her husband and two sons. She travels often to speak and to train new postpartum doulas, and she leads virtual workshops for doulas around the world.