Our team of doulas & creative visual storytellers

About Wildwood Birth Collective

Of course we love babies, but let us show you how supporting new families changes the world!

We are a team of professional, certified birth workers supporting women, birthing people and their families throughout the perinatal experience. Our trainings are vast and include support in almost every aspect of the childbearing year. Birth work is very much a calling that each of us have heeded on our own unique paths, but our values are shared and upheld in every part of our work. We have regular community meetings and continuing education events to stay apprised of the most up-to-date evidence-based research to share with each other and our clients. We’re driven to bring the concept of community into reality, especially during the childbearing year, and shattering the real or perceived isolation that so often accompanies becoming a new parent. 

Our Mission Statement: The mission of Wildwood Birth is to provide evidence-based physical, emotional, and informational support and creative storytelling services to support pregnant people and their families to have a safe, empowered, and beautifully documented birth experience. Our vision is to improve perinatal outcomes and to help change the culture around birth: to mitigate trauma, improve health outcomes, and support families to step into parenthood with confidence and a community of support around them. We do this by providing comprehensive education; deep, responsive, and culturally competent listening and presence; and through creative storytelling that reveals and celebrates the truth, beauty, and power of birth for all bodies and people. 

Our Core Values:

• Accessibility. We offer some of the lowest prices in Portland, because we believe that all perinatal families who want doula support should be able to have it

• Sustainability. Our doulas are compensated generously for their support services. We value strong personal self-care routines, healthy work-life boundaries, and provide a safe space to support each other in our careers

• We offer non-judgmental and unconditional support

• We provide heart-centered evidence-based information and resources

• We uplift body image acceptance and celebration of all bodies before, during, and after birth

• We perpetuate holistic physical, emotional, mental and spiritual health

• We believe that community support improves wellbeing 

• We practice transparent, non-violent communication skills and active listening with our clients and each other

• Our doulas display professionalism, integrity and reliability

• We work actively to combat racism, implicit biases, and oppression in systems we work in, within our company and community, and within ourselves

• We support LGBTQIA2S+ families

• We support Health at Every Size

• We support ALL pregnancy outcomes and experiences

We take this work to heart - we realize that who you choose to have by your side during this profound journey is an honor and a great responsibility. We humbly, gratefully, and ecstatically look forward to serving you and your family.

We are certified labor and postpartum doulas through Birthingway College of Midwifery, DONA and Cornerstone Doula Trainings.

Click on each doula’s profile picture to learn more.

Our Founders’ Story

On an overcast day in April, before Elizabeth and Vera had ever met, they were in separate hospitals on either side of the city supporting their first birth clients at the same time. Looking back, this feels like the first sign that their paths were cosmically aligned. Both practicum students at Birthingway College of Midwifery, they learned that they were the only two students offering birth support in Spanish at the time, and connected to discuss being available for bilingual back-up support. Over the course of their first meeting, a coffee date that turned into a three hour lunch filled with easy conversation and endless mutual head-nodding, they realized that their values, interests, and goals aligned, and so many of their life experiences, too. 

Vera & Elizabeth took on their first clients together as students, and set to work dreaming up Wildwood Birth and putting in the work to shape it into a reality. Since that time, they’ve supported hundreds of growing families, put together a stellar team of birth workers, have fostered partnerships that broaden their community of support, and are continuing to grow and learn together each day. 

Elizabeth and Vera are:

• Documentarians and creative visual storytellers

• Deeply caring and empathetic 

• Social introverts; calm natured

• Grounded in evidence-based advice, research, and informed decision-making 

• Commonly mistaken for sisters

Our Philosophy

We believe in the power of the undisturbed birth. We trust you, we trust your body. Our ultimate goal is to prepare you to brave the wilds of birth with confidence, and be your rock during the unexpected. We bring many skills to the delivery room, and we know when to step out of the way and allow the process to unfold naturally. During the postpartum period, we know that there is no one that knows your baby better than you, and we can help to make things smoother. You need sleep, good food, plenty of water, and lots of snuggles with your baby. We’ll prioritize these needs and help clear away the noise so you can focus on what matters.

“Before speaking, ask yourself: Is it kind, is it necessary, is it true, does it improve upon the silence?” ~Sai Baba

*You may have noticed that we use both “woman/mother” and the gender neutral “birthing person/parent” on this website. We did this intentionally because we believe in the importance of celebrating and lifting up women and mothers, while also celebrating and recognizing that not all birthing people are women. We will advocate for and celebrate you no matter how you present or identify. Thank you for being you.