Birthing Gently Birth Doula Apprentice Program
Our Birth Doula Apprentice program was established in 2010 by founder Tara Poulin. All of the Birth Doulas listed below have attended the DONA International birth Doula workshop, taught by Tara Poulin. The students listed below are in the process of completing the requirements towards certification, or have completed certification and are trying to gain more birth experience. These Doulas are available at a significantly lower rate.
If you are looking for a Birth Doula with extensive training & experience, please visit the Experienced Birth Doula’s page.
Jessica Anderson (DONA International Trained Birth Doula)
Hello families and congratulations on your pregnancy! My name is Jessica Anderson and I am a trained Doula who is practicing in the Boston area as well as the South Shore. I graduated in May 2011 from The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth with a major in Psychology. Interested in putting my Psychology to good use as well as the desire to work with the public, becoming a Doula seemed like my calling! I am confident I can incorporate my Psychology knowledge to the benefit of our entire relationship from prenatal to post birth. I am dedicated to my families, providing phone support all hours of the day as soon as we establish a partnership. I will be present during the entire birthing process, making the delivery as simple as possible by steering medical personnel toward original birth plan and performing various techniques to relieve any discomfort. Post birth I will check in with my family and their newest addition to make sure things are going smoothly. My patience, support and gentle manner will be comforting during this wonderful time in your lives. I look forward to meeting with you and beginning an easy and memorable journey together.
Andrea E. Crompton (DONA International Trained Birth Doula)
There are few moments more spectacular than witnessing a baby come in to this world. One of those moments is watching a woman become a mother, and the bond that she and her baby form immediately postpartum. As a doula, it is an honor to be a part of this process and help cultivate an ideal birth as the mother (and her partner) envisions it. Equally important is the ability to support the parent/s if their birth plans change unexpectedly. Relaxation, massage and visualization with the help of a doula can bring sense of calm to the experience.
I decided to become a doula as an extension of my work in research at a Boston hospital, and my volunteer work at a clinic which provides care to the homeless. My comfort with the medical setting allows me to pass on compassion and knowledge to those in labor and delivery. I truly believe that communication and respect from those providing care can have a large impact on the mom's satisfaction with her birth. I am thrilled to be on this new journey and look forward to many births to come!
Gretchen Sisson (DONA International Trained Birth Doula)
I have always been interested in birth and motherhood, from both academic and professional standpoints. After working with Boston's new an expectant families at Isis Maternity for over a year, and conducting academic research on infertility, pregnancy loss, teen pregnancy and young motherhood, and adoption and birthmotherhood, I had many ideas about childbirth and new parenthood - and few practical ways to work one-on-one with families in the way I most hoped to do! In February 2010, I remedied this by training with Tara Poulin as a birth doula.
I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with families as a birth doula, and help them create a birth experience that meets their physical needs and personal goals. Preparing and going through birth should be a hopeful, exciting, empowering transition, and I believe all families should have access to that type of birth. I am pleased to help families have the support and knowledge they need to achieve their best birth experience.
Susan Thompson (DONA International Trained Birth Doula)
The first birth I ever attended was in rural Mexico. I was 22 years old, the lights went out and the midwife didn't arrive until the last minute but the mother, my friend, was calm and focused. All of us present followed her lead to the successful birth of her beautiful daughter. Since then she and all the mothers whose births I've attended have become my heroes. Each birth is an emotional and physical journey into the unknown and I see a doula's job as being the steady and loving support of a neutral hand. I have two beautiful boys, (one C-section and one VBAC), and wrote a play, "The Wild Place" based on dreams I had while pregnant and nursing them. I am an area teacher and performer and see my work in theater as complimentary to my work as a doula. A birth is a mother and her extended family's "special day" and my goal is to help make that experience positive, supported and informed. I am fluent in Spanish and French. I am excited to be part of the Apprentice Program at Birthing Gently.
Birth Doulas