Jenny Corbett
I am an actor, singer and yoga teacher and a brand new doula. I have been living in the DC area for 12 years, working as a company member of The Capitol Steps political satire group, doing freelance theatre work and teaching music, drama and yoga to children. I love the arts and believe strongly in the power of the arts to enrich and elevate life to a new level. It has been my first love and my passion for as long as I can remember...and then I gave birth.
And nothing was the same.
I still love the theatre. I still love to sing and make people laugh. But is doesn't light the fire under me that it used to. The birth of my first child, Lucy, at home in September of 2009 ignited a passion for birth and babies that I thought would fade as my own childbearing time came to a close. After my son Malcolm was born in 2011, I realized my passion for birth was a calling I need to follow. The midwives that attended my two births gave me a wonderful gift - two beautiful, peaceful home births and a bottomless well of confidence in the power of my own body - and I feel a deep desire to "pay it forward" by serving women who desire to have their voices heard as they give birth.
Marina Kessenich
My name is Marina Kessenich and I am DONA trained and Madriella certified doula with a passion for supporting women from all walks of life through their journey to becoming mothers. I am also currently working on my child birth educator certification as well as my lactation educator certification, through Birth Arts International.
As your doula my goal is to assist you emotionally as well as physically throughout this tremendously wonderful and powerful time in your life. I hope to help you and your partner feel confident and secure in your choices before, during, and after the birth of your child. I especially encourage open communicating between a woman, her partner, and her care provider. All women are entitled to have the birth that feels right for them.
For a woman to experience the best birth possible I believe it is important for her to be in a place where she feels safe and comfortable, therefor I support and have experience with both in and out of hospital births. I am familiar with The Bradley Birth Method, HypnoBirthing (similar to both Hypnobabies and Blissborn), and Lamaze.
I am a doula because it is an amazing privilege to spend my life helping other women; because I believe birth is simply incredible; because I myself could have used the support of a doula during the birth of my own daughter.
Kim Lawton
My name is Kimberly Lawton, and I am a trained birth doula and placenta specialist located in Woodbridge, VA. I serve clients in the Northern Virginia and DC Metropolitan areas.
I gave birth to my first child while my husband was deployed. It was one of the most wonderful, yet very difficult times in my life. I wish I had known about doulas at that time! My difficulties during that period, however, prompted my enthusiastic search for knowledge about supporting women during labor and delivery. Now that I am a doula, I enjoy learning all I can about pregnancy, childbirth and newborn care. I have found that having the presence of a sympathetic and nurturing woman at your child's birth can affect motherhood in a very positive way.
As a doula, I am there to support your family both emotionally and physically and can direct you to information as needed. This is your birth experience, not mine, and therefore I come without bias or a hidden agenda. I have experience with both in-home and at-hospital births, and feel comfortable attending either.
When I am not out doula-ing, I enjoy meeting friends for good coffee, hiking or camping, thrift store hunting, reading fantasy novels (if they have magic or time travel in them, all the better!), and volunteering at my church. I have two children of my own, both girls, and that makes for an often chaotic, but wonderful mess! We homeschool our eldest, and are enjoying the ride. :)
I am excited that you are considering me to be a part of your birth team! I look forward to discussing your hopes for your birth experience with you.
Tracy Osborne
Hello, my name is Tracy Osborne and I am a DONA certified birth doula, Hypnobabies® Hypno-doula, Rebozo Instructor, childbirth educator, homeschooler, momma who loves the Lord. My journey to become a doula started with the births of my two wonderful boys. I had very different experiences with each of their births, and I came to realize there is a better way to experience birth. My desire to help others experience their birth while having the constant support of someone who knows how to help the mother deal with the emotional and physical stresses of childbirth grew from desiring it for myself. No mother should face birth without the support of a knowledgeable person to guide her through the fulfillment of her own birth plan. My wish is for every mother and partner to feel more involved, informed, and supported with their wishes for their birth experience, with no judgments made no matter what their decisions are.
I am also a childbirth educator. I decided to teach childbirth education because of my love for empowering women and their families to make the best informed decisions they can in regards to their labor and birth. Using my experience as a mother, doula, and former teacher, I created my course to educate, empower, and entertain those attending.
Odile Penet
My name is Odile. I am a certified childbirth doula (DONA International), a postpartum doula (IFSI, France), a trained Lamaze childbirth educator and a placenta encapsulation specialist.
I have been serving families for the last 10 years and I have experience with prenatal, birth and postpartum care. I support natural, medicated, and VBAC births. I trained and certified in France and in the United States. In addition, I am certified in early childhood education and I hold my CPR certification (American Red Cross).
I have a supportive, non-judgmental and respectful approach to birth.
On a personal note, I am the mother of two young adults. I am a French native speaker and can provide my services in English and in French. I swim on a regular basis (great breathing technique work out!) and practice yoga.
Andrea Proper (NOVA Birth Services Collaborator)
Andrea Proper graduated from Towson State University with a degree in Psychology- focusing on communication disorders and child development. For over a decade Andrea has dedicated her life to birth work, advocating for birth rights, supporting the birth process and since 2009 as a birth doula.
Trained through both ToLabor and DONA as a birth doula, Cappa for child birth education and under Dr. Carol J. Philips for Craniosacral/Myofascial techniques. Since 2009 Andrea has been supporting expectant family through their birth journeys.
In 2013 she opened the door to The Northern Virginia Birth Services center. The purpose for the center was to offer expectant families one location to find support and education from pregnancy, birth and beyond. Whether wanting a home/birth center or hospital birth, natural or pain managed, Andrea offers professional, personalized support in a non-judgmental, inviting and accepting way. In addition to providing labor support, Andrea teaches the” Express child birth education class”, “Building your birth plan” and “Happy third trimester” classes at the center and specializes in baby positioning including breech and malpositioned babies. Her hope is to provide support and education to any expectant family seeking it as well as to offer an open environment for birth workers to grow and learn. She feels that if we give a mom and baby a strong start, it strengthens the family, in turn strengthening the community. Making the world a better place one birth at a time.
Andrea has been married to her husband Bart for over 15 years and they have 5 wonderful children.
Rose Quintilian
Hello, I'm Rose Quintilian, Certified Hypnobabies® Instructor and Birth Doula. During my first successful pregnancy, I discovered the Hypnobabies® Yahoo Group, made some friends and found a lot of support.
My daughter was born at Maternity Center Associates in September of 2002. When I became pregnant with my son I used the Hypnobabies® Home Study program. My birthing time was so amazing, I decided to become an instructor. I flew to California one year later and was certified in October 2006. Although my son's birth ended in a transfer and Cesarean, I credit Hypnobabies® for a wonderful birth experience.
I have enjoyed every moment of my classes, and I love hearing my student's birth stories and seeing pictures of our precious Hypnobabies®! I also enjoy attending births as a HypnoDoula! I will attend births of any Hypnobabies students, from my class or other instructors, as well as home study students.
Katie Tolbert (NOVA Birth Services Collaborator)
Katie graduated from George Mason University with a bachelor’s degree in Nursing in 2008. In 2009 she was introduced to HypnoBirthing by her midwife and proceeded to birth two children with the HypnoBirthing technique and philosophy in 2010 and 2011. Her beautiful birth experiences empowered her to a career change to begin teaching other women the amazing way to birth calmly, easily and comfortably. Katie became a certified HypnoBirthing Practitioner in January 2013 and began her doula journey later that fall after attending her doula certification course with Dr. Vivian Keeler and Lori McCoy of Contemporary Doula. Her mission is to enhance the physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual health of mothers and babies and their families through education and loving support during pregnancy, child birth and early parenting.
Mary Wheatley
Like many parents, I became interested in learning all I could about birth during my first pregnancy. After having my second child in 2010, I knew I wanted to use my knowledge of and enthusiasm for pregnancy and birth to support pregnant persons and their partners in their journey. I bring an open and compassionate heart to my work, and hold the deepest respect for the birthing process. While I am awe-filled by birth and its beautiful potentials, I also know that things don’t always go “as planned”, and my priorities always remain fixed on the needs of the person in labor. I will always support without judgment and to strive to make the experience a positive one, whether or not intervention becomes medically necessary. I provide information during pregnancy and birth, and encourage communication with the care provider, but I do not speak in place of my clients. Rather, I support them in voicing their needs, and offer acceptance of their decisions.
I live in Riverdale Park, MD where I spend my days feeding, bathing, and entertaining my two wildly energetic (read: crazy!) children. I’m also a musician, and enjoy playing guitar and singing for my family, and occasionally performing at our town’s Farmer’s Market. I love biking with my family, spending time in nature, and also enjoy working on crafty projects, like cross-stitching and knitting.
other local doulas
I have cooperative and back up relationships with the following doulas.