Birth Kalamazoo

02/16/2026

We're celebrating new certifications this month! 💜🎉🌟

Our doula Ashley Whitt earned both her birth and postpartum doula certification with DONA International. Ashley is a co-facilitator of our VBAC and cesarean support group. She has a deep commitment to addressing disparities for Black and Brown families, as well as a special place in her heart for her fellow military parents.

Rebekah Olson from our team has been a certified birth doula for several years, but she recently earned an additional certification as a postpartum doula with DONA International. A former medical assistant, Bekah sees each birth as sacred and she's a strong advocate for families.

You don't have to be certified to be a doula, but certification is a value we hold at Birth Kalamazoo. All of our doulas are either certified or actively working toward certification. DONA International's certification process is rigorous and meaningful. After training, doulas support clients and document their strategies, get evaluated by clients and others, complete additional reading and equity training, create an extensive resource list for their community, and answer essay questions about how to best care for clients within our standards of practice and code of ethics. Certification packets are thoroughly reviewed, and recertification requires continuing education in the field. We don't see these as hoops to jump through, but instead as a rigorous vetting of our work for families. Our doulas also have strong mentoring and support available through Birth Kalamazoo, day and night.

These doulas are out there doing amazing work! Congratulations, Ashley and Bekah!

02/12/2026

Our monthly VBAC & Cesarean Support Group is happening Monday! The session is free to you, thanks to support from Southwest Michigan Perinatal Quality Improvement Collaborative - Region 8. This is an opportunity to process, share and plan. We hope to see you in-person, but you can attend virtually too if that works better for you. Registration is helpful, just fill out the form at birthkalamazoo.com/vbac . You are not alone! Teresa Youngblood and Ashley W are looking forward to seeing you. The weather looks much nicer than last month! 💜

02/09/2026

Upcoming goodness at Birth Kalamazoo! 💜

02/07/2026

Looking for a special Valentine’s Day weekend activity with your honey? 🥰 Join us for couples prenatal yoga on Sunday, February 15! This single-session class was a special request from some students our current group yoga class. What a sweet way to connect with each other and your baby at any stage of pregnancy, no special yoga skills required. All couples are welcome, as always. 🏳️‍🌈

02/03/2026

Important info about a hard topic (stillbirth/infant death). Jessica and Nicole both use some Evidence Based Birth resources in our Lamaze childbirth classes. Much love to all the families who have lost babies, and information is power for the times when it may be preventable. ❤️‍🩹

01/27/2026

Our colleagues at Rootead are sponsoring this great workshop! Doulas, nurses, midwives, physicians, YOU ALL, check it out! :) Dr. K is amazing.

Are you a birth worker looking to deepen your knowledge?
Registration is open for Pelvic Floor Foundations Training! With the support of our community funders, we’re able to offer this training at a reduced rate to support accessibility and care.

We’d love to have you join us.
Register here: https://www.cognitoforms.com/RooteadEnrichmentCenter/PelvicFloorFoundationsForBirthWorkers

Pelvic Noire Physical Therapy & Wellness

01/26/2026

Peace, connection, attunement with your baby and your body. Alison is ready for you starting Wednesday night. Just a few spots left in our next prenatal yoga series. We’ll add the registration link below, and we’ll hope to see you there. 🙏🏼❤️

01/20/2026

Great news! We've added another Medicaid health plan to broaden our support for Southwest Michigan families. We're now accepting both Meridian Medicaid and United Medicaid, along with secondary Medicaid and MOMS Medicaid.

Michigan Medicaid funds:

- prenatal visits
- the birth however long it lasts
- real postpartum visits, 2.5 hours with a postpartum doula

Your benefits cover a total of 12 visits, divided between prenatal and postpartum. If you need more visits, we'll work with you to request those from your health plan.

These are the ONLY health plans we're currently supporting, so we can provide the very best care and also be sure that our doulas are paid for their work. If you have a different Medicaid health plan and would like to work with our doulas, you can change your health plan through Michigan Medicaid. Private/commercial insurance doesn't usually cover doula services, but check with your plan. In addition to clients who pay out of pocket, we also can work with employee benefit programs (Carrot, Progyny, Walmart, Target, etc.), and our system is set up to accept HSA and Flex cards (check with your plan to confirm benefits).

The best way to get started with birth and/or postpartum services is to fill out the contact form on our website. We'll put that link in the comments!

01/19/2026

Stay safe, SW Michigan! We're still here for you, but the VBAC & Cesarean Support Group will be fully virtual tonight (no in-person). ❄️ We'll email the Zoom link to everyone who has already registered. There's still time to register if you'd like to join us.

01/17/2026

We're ready for you on Monday! This is a wonderful opportunity to process a cesarean birth or plan for your next birth. Bring a friend, bring yourself, come join us in community — in person or virtual. Babies in arms are welcome in person.

01/13/2026

NEW DATES! We had some requests for a little later start date, so we shifted the upcoming session to begin January 28. We'd love to see you for movement, birth prep, community and connection. 💜 Registration link in the first comment.