Meet Brenda!

Brenda finds working with expecting families a nourishing gift.

A doula since 2003, Brenda's passion for empowered birth has long strengthened our community. She's served as an active member of LLL (La Leche League) and ICAN (International Cesarean Awareness Network), as well as a leader in a local API (Attachment Parenting International) group. As a mother who's birthed via Cesarean herself as well as had her own successful VBACs, she's intimately aware of the unique needs of these parents. Working with Brenda means benefiting from her gentle compassion and unconditional support. As a birth doula, Brenda is passionate and inspired to empower other women to have the birth of their dreams without judgement or coercion – with unconditional love and support. In her post-partum work, she brings a wealth of experience and unerring kindness to every situation. Brenda believes with all her heart that it is both an honor and a privilege to be invited into the life of a family and to share in some of their most precious moments. Brenda’s journey to becoming a doula started with the birth of her daughter, born via cesarean section. This birth experience, so different from what she had envisioned, inspired her to learn more and find a way to do it differently for her next two births. She went on to have a vaginal birth after cesarean with the help of a doula and finally a home birth with her 3 rd child. These experiences altered her life and led her to doula service. After her children arrived, Brenda became heavily involved in the parenting community. She served as a leader in the local Attachment Parenting International (API) group, and an active member of both ICAN and LLL. She also became a DONA certified birth doula and began her practice. Brenda and her doula partner attended 50 births between 2007 and 2010. Brenda then left the doula world for a few years as the needs of her family and software development career took over. She has now resumed her work as a doula and finds herself more nourished by it than ever. Brenda has also had a successful career in IT. She grew up in Columbia Maryland and then moved to Virginia to attend James Madison University, where she studied Math and Computer Science. Brenda currently lives in Bristow VA with her three children, her husband Paul, his three children and their four furry felines. In her free time, she enjoys watching movies or playing games with her family, practicing yoga, and cooking healthy meals. She describes herself as a certified health food and yoga nut.