About the DSA.

The DSA is a non-profit association promoting Perinatal Doula support for families in British Columbia, Canada.

Our Mission

Our mission is to raise awareness about the role of Perinatal Doulas (fertility, birth, postpartum, loss) within BC while providing a referral service to BC families and delivering continuing education to our members, healthcare professionals, and the public at large.

Training and Standards

All DSA doulas have completed an approved training course and are required to pursue ongoing education.  The DSA also has a strict confidentiality policy, a standardized Code of Ethics, and Standards of Practice that all DSA members must follow.

The Board of Directors

Carissa Reed  (She/Her/Hers)
President

Carissa Reed is a full spectrum doula, energy practitioner, and amateur astrologer living and working on the ancestral and unceded homelands of the Squamish, Musqueum and Tsleil Watooth people. She is fiercely passionate about the transformative power of birth and is dedicated to supporting families in exploring their choices and actively practicing informed consent throughout their reproductive journey. Carissa believes that birth belongs to families and works hard to provide education that will uplift, empower, and embolden birthing folks to actively engage in their care. She knows that education and knowledge are incredible tools that act as support to the innate wisdom and knowledge of birthing people. With a background education in Social Work and Gender, Sexuality & Women's studies, Carissa has always been a fierce advocate and passionate about social causes, and believes deeply that the world is made better by our multitudes of intersections of identity and the diversity of all humans. 

Carissa believes in the value of having culturally sensitive, trauma informed and socially conscious care for families navigating this massive transition. Her goal is to increase awareness of doulas both locally and internationally, increase access to care for families of all identities and organizations, and to uplift the experience of doulas within BC.  She recognizes the toll this work can take on a person and is committed to supporting doulas in all capacities.

You can learn more about Carissa and her services at HomeBody Holistic Birth or find her on Instagram.

Vice President

OPEN POSITION

Sarah Wallace  (She/They)
Secretary/Director of Communications

Sarah is a mom of 4, a former teacher, an advocate for mental health, a believer in speaking your truth and standing up for what is right, a gardener, a coffee & chocolate lover, and a huge fan of Doctor Who.

She serves new and expecting families by providing them with intuitive, evidence-based support as a Full Spectrum Birthworker, Certified Childbirth Educator, and Documentary Photographer. They specialize in postpartum support and is dedicated to supporting your entire family through the first year. Sarah also provides pregnancy and infant loss support to those going through any kind of pregnancy or infant loss including miscarriage, stillbirth, and abortion.

Sarah is proud to serve all families regardless of race, gender identity, sexuality, ability, age, or faith. First-time parent(s) or experienced parent(s). Single parents. Families of multiples. Families grown by surrogacy or adoption. No matter what YOUR family looks like or how you’ve grown your family, you deserve to be supported through this transition.

Sarah grew up in the East Kootenays, and is now based in the unceded Sinixt, Ktunaxa, Syilx, and Secwepemc territories in the West Kootenays of BC.

You can learn more about Sarah and their services at nurturedpostpartum.ca

Treasurer

OPEN POSITION

Heather Wuschke (She/Them)
Director of Memberships

Heather is a parent and partner, birth and postpartum doula, and yoga teacher on the unceded land belonging to the Coast Salish people, including the territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam),
Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lō and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. Colonially known as Vancouver, BC.

Heather came to doula work through the incredible journey of her first pregnancy and birth, filled with a growing desire for all the knowledge, learning and unlearning that comes with understanding the magic
of pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. She continues to learn and deepen that understanding with every birth and postpartum experience that she supports and is honored and humbled everyday by the families she works with.
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When Heather isn’t serving her community, you can find her hiking in the forest, savouring a hot cup of tea, and adventuring with her amazing husband and two children.

Heather is proud to support the DSA and grow this amazing community of doulas.
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Find out more about Heather and her business Sacred Rhythms at https://www.sacredrhythmsco.com/​

Amy Jefferson (She/Her)
Indigenous Doula & Family Advocate

Bio coming soon!

Ashley Jardine (She/Her)
​Community Outreach

Ashley is a full-spectrum birthworker located on Nex̱wlélex̱m, the ancestral and unceded territories of the Skwxwu7mesh (Squamish) People. Living, working, and raising a family in this small community is a privilege she doesn’t hold lightly. 

As a cis-gendered white woman, Ashley acknowledges where she intersects the world and the privilege that affords—she is constantly learning and strives to support people in a gender-affirming, culture-affirming, and trauma-informed way. Since stepping into this work, Ashley has moved her practice to a sliding scale model with a focus on community reparations and redistribution of funds. 

Her work as a successful writer and copywriter enables the financial privilege and flexibility to work almost exclusively with volunteer clients and folks who wish to be supported birthing remotely on the island. Ashley also facilitates a weekly postpartum yoga class (where she fully endorses an hour-long nap) and unless she’s on a social media break, her DM’s are always open. 

Ashley is a parent to two small humans and a rescue pup whose names all coincidently end in “O”. She thinks a lot about having more babies, writing a book, and becoming a social worker, midwife, or therapist.

Find out more about Ashley here.

Bev Watson
Member Identification Tag Manager

Bev attended her first DONA birth doula training in 2008. As the mother of 5 and grandmother of 7 (and counting!), the birth process has become very significant for her.

As a member of the DSA and a director on the BOD , Bev is constantly amazed at the passion, commitment and level of caring that doulas extend to the people they support. Our DSA strives to provide knowledge and opportunities for doulas to expand and improve their role within this process.

Bev's  role as a Director is a support position. She attends meetings, helps make decisions, participates in set-ups and take-downs for work shops, trade shows, etc. Bev is also responsible for the name tags you receive as a member of the DSA.

Regional Representatives.

Kristin Eapen
​Interior BC

Kristin is a birth doula and Lamaze certified childbirth educator with the immense privilege of serving families on the traditional, unceded territory of the Syilx/Okanagan people in Kelowna, BC. She has a passion for continuous learning, with a niche in perinatal mental health and mood disorders.

To say that birth work is a passion would be an understatement! She is truly living a dream, empowering clients to be active participants in their care through informed choice, and continuous evidence-based support.
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Kristin loves the term ‘holding space’, because it encapsulates so much of what she does in her work, which is ‘being present’, without agenda, without judgement. It's a space where her clients feel safe, honoured and heard.

When she's not at a birth you will probably find her learning about dinosaurs, building Lego or discovering the outdoors with her husband and three kiddos.
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Kristin is excited to working on the board alongside our incredible and diverse team as we serve the DSA community!

Reet Bains (She/Her)
Southern Vancouver Island

Reet Bains a holistic doula working with clients through birth and postpartum, and also with fertility and loss after feeling the void in her own fertility journey.  She has grown up and lives on unceded territories of the Songhees, Esquimalt, and W̱SÁNEĆ peoples (Victoria), and services clients both in-person and virtually.
 
A passion for birth since she was young child, she later learned that both her grandmother and great grandmother were birth partners in India. Being called the baby whisperer, she decided to complete her holistic doula training at Pacific Rim College in 2018, and give up her corporate life and dive fully into birthwork in 2020
 
The inspiration for her work as a doula is that birth is a normal function of the pregnant birther’s body.  Our bodies instinctively know what to do and she is here to remind you of that.  She offers a variety of Eastern and Western services, including bringing a lens of Ayurveda and using energy work such as Access Consciousness (energy work). Her goal is to ensure that clients are informed, empowered and feel supported during their fertility, birthing and postpartum journeys.  She can be found at Golden Triangle Doula
 
The constant student, she is always learning, advocating and integrating.  She is excited to be the South Island Rep for the DSA.

Laurie McDonald
Northern Vancouver Island

Laurie is a community care worker of Scandinavian and Germanic ancestry, who grew up in Tsilhqot’in territory. She and her husband have five grown children, four (ages 8-16) who are still growing and learning at home and four who left this world early. Their most recent addition is a puppy.​

Before starting a family, she was an RN. She has volunteered in many capacities over the years and was excited to move forward with birth doula training in 2017. Her love of learning and serving led her to become a Health Care Assistant in 2022. She is continuing to further her education in the areas of postpartum and bereavement.

Laurie currently resides on the traditional and unceded territories of the Ligwidax. She is looking forward to meeting and collaborating with fellow birth workers as they support families.

Some of her other lifelong loves are fibre arts, gardening, nutrition, travel and languages.

Sarah Alicia Elder
New West - Tri Cities

Sarah is a full spectrum doula in the city of New Westminster on the unceded traditional territories of the Qayqayt (qiqéyt) First Nation.

She has 4 young children and a very giant puppy that take up most of her time when not helping families. Born and raised in New Westminster helped light the flame to help her community which she has been doing since finishing high school volunteering in various activities and events around the city. After having her first daughter, she learned about what doulas are and decided to do a career switch after the birth of her second. As an artist, she loves intertwining art projects with clients and their families to help make one-of-a-kind keepsakes. As well as being a doula Sarah is a CPST and also co-runs a Postpartum Support Group through Centennial Community Center. 

 "The best part about being a doula is there isn't one way to do it and I feel that's why the doula community is such an open and supportive one. We are all so different from each other but have the same passion, to help families."
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You can learn more about Sarah and her services at www.elderflowerdoula.ca

Rebecca Hooge 
Fraser Valley

Bio coming soon!

Ariel Montgomery (She/Her)
Northern BC

Ariel grew up on Nex̱wlélex̱m (Bowen Island) in Southern BC and now resides in Northern BC on the ancestral territory of Lheidli T’enneh, Dakeł Keyoh (ᑕᗸᒡ ᗲᘏᑋ), Dënéndeh (Prince George, BC), as well as Gitx̱san Lax̱yip (Hazelton, BC) with her husband and three children.

Ariel is a full spectrum doula (Nurtured North), pre and postnatal exercise specialist, prenatal nutrition professional, yoga teacher, and the owner of a strength and conditioning/movement studio (Framework Fitness).
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Ariel blends her experience in breath, movement, nutrition and birth for a holistic support approach.  She strives to empower and educate birthing people with evidence-based options to provide accessible care.
Ariel is continuously learning and unlearning and is unapologetic in her beliefs and values of supporting birthing people and their families to create a supportive and healthy community for all in the North.

You can find and follow Ariel at Nurtured North on Instagram!

​Interested in joining us?
As a volunteer-run association, we are always interested in hearing from any of our members who are interested in joining the board.  Whether you'd like to help with specific projects or would like to learn more about what it means to be a board member, please  contact us.

DSA members are also welcome to attend any of our monthly
​board meetings.

In our organization, we recognize that change is constant and we welcome the opportunity to have new members contributing to the growth of the DSA. We look forward to hearing from YOU!
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Photography provided by Stages Family + Photography