nurturing and inspiring

Michigan doulas

in Regions 8 & 4

Doulas, you pour so much into helping families grow, now is our chance to pour into you! doula love 2026 is sponsored in partnership with the MDHHS Doula Initiative. This free one-day conference and nurture event will include incredible keynotes, breakout sessions, and opportunities for fun and connection.

Friday, September 11, 2026

9 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Fetzer Center, Western Michigan University

Conference registration is free and open to doulas who live in Michigan's Perinatal Quality Region 8 or 4.

Region 8: Berrien, Branch, Calhoun, Cass, Kalamazoo, St. Joseph, and Van Buren Counties.

Region 4: Allegan, Barry, Ionia, Kent, Lake, Mason, Mecosta, Montcalm, Muskegon, Newaygo, Oceana, Osceola, and Ottawa Counties.

Doulas who live in other regions of Michigan are invited to register for our wait list below, to be notified if spots open closer to the conference date.

Update: the conference is full and closed!

Scroll down to get on the wait list.

Keynote Speakers

Kayleigh Summers, The Birth Trauma Mama

Beyond Delivery: Understanding the Lasting Impact of Perinatal Trauma on Patients and Birth Workers

Perinatal trauma can have lasting emotional, psychological, and physical effects long after delivery, affecting not only birthing people and families, but also the doulas and birth workers who support them through some of the most vulnerable moments of their lives. In this presentation, participants will gain a deeper understanding of perinatal trauma, including how traumatic births, unexpected complications, medical emergencies, loss, and experiences of fear, helplessness, or invalidation can impact clients in the postpartum period and beyond.

Together, we will explore the unique role doulas play in fostering emotional safety, compassionate support, and trauma-informed care before, during, and after birth. This session will also address the often-overlooked impact of witnessing trauma as a birth worker, including secondary trauma, emotional overwhelm, moral injury, and the importance of sustainable self-awareness and support.

Blending professional expertise with personal lived experience as both a birth trauma survivor and perinatal trauma therapist, this session will explore the lasting ripple effects of trauma and the powerful role doulas can play in changing outcomes for their clients.

Kayleigh Summers, LCSW, PMH-C

Kayleigh Summers is a licensed therapist, writer, and content expert in perinatal trauma. Drawing from her clinical expertise and lived experience as an amniotic fluid embolism survivor, Kayleigh is dedicated to supporting families navigating perinatal trauma and collaborating with healthcare institutions to implement trauma-informed care tailored to pregnant and postpartum populations. As The Birth Trauma Mama, Kayleigh has cultivated vibrant support communities through Instagram, TikTok, and her podcast, offering connection, storytelling, and valuable resources for individuals impacted by perinatal trauma. Her work bridges clinical knowledge and personal insight, fostering hope and healing for the more than 650,000 followers across social media platforms.

Jennifer Day, U.S. Breastfeeding Committee

We Were Never Waiting to Be Saved: Community Wisdom and the Path Forward for Birth Justice

In a political moment marked by attacks on bodily autonomy, maternal child health equity, public health infrastructure, and community care systems, birth workers and families continue to do what they have always done: create pathways for survival, healing, advocacy, and liberation.

This session explores the intersection of birth, breastfeeding, policy, and community leadership through the lens of justice, history, and lived experience. Together, we will examine how communities, particularly Black, Indigenous, and historically marginalized communities, have never lacked wisdom or solutions despite systemic barriers and underinvestment. From ancestral practices to movements, communities have consistently led the way in protecting families and advancing change long before institutions recognized the need.

Participants will leave with a deeper understanding of how birth workers, lactation advocates, families, and grassroots leaders can influence policy, shift systems, and strengthen collective power while remaining rooted in community wisdom and care. This conversation challenges saviorism and scarcity narratives while uplifting sustainable, community-led approaches that honor the expertise already present within the people most impacted.

This session is both a call to action and a reminder that the path forward has always existed within our communities.

Jennifer Day, IBCLC

Jennifer Day is the Executive Director of the United States Breastfeeding Committee, where she leads national efforts advancing birth and breastfeeding justice, equity, maternal and infant health, and community-centered policy and systems change. A respected advocate, speaker, and servant leader, Jennifer’s work centers the wisdom and lived experiences of families and communities, particularly Black and historically marginalized communities, in shaping sustainable systems change.

Jennifer is a co-founder of the Southeast Michigan IBCLCs of Color and has served families as a private practice doula, lactation consultant, and childbirth educator for over 20 years. Her leadership is deeply informed by both professional expertise and community-rooted practice at the intersection of birth, breastfeeding, advocacy, and liberation.

Jennifer is also a fellow of the Nonprofit Practice Institute's Black Leadership Fellowship, where she continues to deepen her leadership alongside other Black executive leaders committed to transformational change across the nation. In addition to her public health leadership, she serves as an associate pastor and community advocate, bringing together strategy, storytelling, faith, and justice-centered vision in every space she enters.

Schedule for the Day

Please plan to attend the entire day. We have amazing things planned for you, doula!

9 a.m.
Arrival and welcome

9:30 - 11 a.m.
Kayleigh Summers, Keynote
The Birth Trauma Mama

11 - 11:15 a.m.
Break

11:15 - 12:15 p.m.
Breakout Session A

12:15 - 1:15 p.m.
Lunch

1:15 - 1:30 p.m.
Break

1:30 - 2:30 p.m.
Breakout Session B

2:30 - 3 p.m.
Break and Fun Patrol

3 - 4:15 p.m.
Jennifer Day, Keynote
U.S. Breastfeeding Committee

4:15 - 4:30 p.m.
Energy Break

4:30 - 5:30 p.m.
Breakout Session C

5:30 - 6 p.m.
Raffle and Closing
doula love Farewell

Includes 5.5 DONA International contact hours, which can be used for most certifying bodies.

Concurrent / Breakout Sessions

CONCURRENT / BREAKOUT SESSION A (choose one)

Understanding Neurodivergence in the Postpartum Period

Neurodivergent parents deserve postpartum care that honors their needs. This session explores both why this is an important topic for practicing doulas and families in the community and how to implement best practices in real time. Everyone benefits when doulas meet families where they’re at.

Sienna Lockhart, MSW
Sienna is a vocational rehabilitation counselor, wellness practitioner, and emerging postpartum doula whose work centers accessibility, compassion, and trauma‑informed care. Her approach is shaped by years of supporting families through state agencies, schools, and community programs, where she witnessed firsthand how often neurodivergent parents are overlooked or misunderstood. Today, she blends advocacy, education, and nurturing support to help parents feel grounded and capable during the tender postpartum season. She is currently building a wellness and doula practice dedicated to accessible, affirming care for all families.

Being a Doula FOR the Community

What does it mean to be a doula for the community? Rickeshia will cover the importance of community engagement and getting to know the providers and hospital systems that serve our clientele. Join her in examining how this allows us to better show up for, support, educate, and advocate for the clients in our community that often go under served, unheard or fall through the cracks due to unfavorable circumstances, some that might even be out of their control. This interactive discussion offers space for the doulas in the room to share their opinions and insights as well. Rickeshia believes in the collective village creating success for families, and that includes doulas uplifting doulas.

Rickeshia Williams CLS, CLC, CBD, CBE
Rickeshia is the proud mother of two children: a son, age 16, and a daughter, age 14. She is the Executive Director and founder of Milk Like Mine Community Birthing & Breastfeeding Services Center in Battle Creek, Michigan. In addition to her role as executive director, she serves families as a Certified Lactation Specialist, Certified Lactation Counselor, Certified Birth and Postpartum Doula, Childbirth Educator, Postpartum Depression Peer Counselor, and Doula Mentor. She has been in lactation education and support for 14 years and doing birth support for 20, officially becoming a doula in March of 2021. Rickeshia has a passion for serving the community and educating clients so that they have greater chance at having the best journey in their parentage possible, starting at the earliest point prenatally and beyond.

Navigating Labor Stalls and Supporting Malpositions

This talk will help doulas to feel more confident in their scope of work to support the laboring person in a fully physiological and strategic way. We will cover nervous system down regulation, contraction patterns that reflect possible malposition, and reposition strategies. Join us to learn practical, body-based tools to support more ease, confidence, and success in the birth experience.

Mandi Rodenbeck, CD(DONA)
Mandi is a DONA-certified doula with nine years of experience walking alongside families through pregnancy and birth, and the owner of Great Lakes Doulas in Grand Rapids. As a doula mentor, Spinning Babies® enthusiast, and both a Body Ready Method® Pro and teacher, she is passionate about helping families feel informed, supported, and encouraged as they navigate their unique birth journeys. Mandi has a special interest in fetal positioning and the ways it can impact labor, with a heart for reducing unnecessary cesarean births and preventing the discouragement and trauma that can come with a “failure to progress” diagnosis.

CONCURRENT / BREAKOUT SESSION B (choose one)

Healing the "Strong Black Woman" for Doulas

This workshop section helps Black birth and community doulas explore how the “Strong Black Woman” ideal shapes their caregiving, boundaries, and well-being. Through guided reflection, discussion, and practical tools, participants identify patterns of overextension while reclaiming rest, vulnerability, and sustainable strength. Doulas will leave empowered with new definitions of resilience, boundary-setting strategies, and a deeper commitment to caring for themselves as they care for others.

Rev. Dr. Denise Kingdom
Rev. Dr. Denise Kingdom is an ordained minister and missionary to South Africa where she supports orphaned families and promotes birth justice. She is also a doula of doulas as Program Manager with Grand Rapids African American Health Institute and mother to a midwife student. She carries a legacy of nurturing, wisdom, and generational spiritual womb support. Rooted in compassion and community care, she supports those who support others, empowering doulas, families, and future healers alike. Her work is guided by the belief that when caregivers are held, whole communities can thrive.

Birth Compass: Helping Clients Out of Panic in High-Intensity Moments

When clients enter panic during birth, decision-making becomes harder, communication breaks down, and interventions may escalate. This session introduces Birth Compass, a practical framework doulas can use in real time to help clients move from overwhelm to orientation. Participants will learn the Pause-Orient-Ground-Step approach for supporting nervous system regulation, improving communication, and facilitating informed decision-making in high-intensity moments. This session focuses on what doulas can actually say and do when a client is scared, overwhelmed, or unsure. Attendees will leave with concrete language, grounding strategies, and decision-support tools they can immediately apply in practice.

Dr. Sam Vaive (they/she), MSW, Ph.D.
Dr. V is the founder of Sound Birthing and creator of Mind-Body, Birth® and Birth Compass, a biopsychosocial framework for supporting the emotional, physiological, and decision-making aspects of childbirth. With a background in psychology, social work, sexual health education, Yoga, and sound therapy, their work focuses on helping families reduce fear, improve communication, and navigate high-intensity moments during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. Dr. V teaches doulas and birth professionals practical tools for nervous system regulation, informed decision-making, and whole-person support. Their approach integrates research with real-world application, giving birth professionals concrete strategies they can use immediately with clients.

Beyond Kegels: What Every Doula Should Know About the Pelvic Floor

The pelvic floor plays an important role in pregnancy, birth, and postpartum recovery — yet it’s often overlooked or misunderstood. This session is designed to give doulas practical, easy-to-understand insights into how pelvic floor function impacts comfort, labor, and healing. Attendees will learn how to recognize common concerns, support clients with confidence, and understand when pelvic floor therapy may be beneficial. We’ll explore simple pelvic floor strategies doulas can use to support their clients throughout pregnancy, labor and postpartum recovery. The goal is to give doulas knowledge that enhances their care and strengthens collaboration with healthcare providers.

Chelsea Petrakovitz, DPT
Chelsea Petrakovitz, DPT, is a pelvic health physical therapist and the owner of Fit For You Pelvic Rehab and Bloom Women’s Health Collective in Jackson, Michigan. She specializes in supporting individuals through pregnancy, postpartum recovery, pelvic pain, and (peri)menopause. Chelsea is deeply passionate about helping people understand their bodies, feel heard in their healthcare journeys, and approach birth and recovery with confidence. She works closely with doulas, midwives, and physicians to support patients throughout their reproductive journeys. Through education and advocacy, Chelsea is committed to bridging gaps in maternal healthcare and empowering both providers and the families they serve.

Supporting 2SLGBTQIA+ Families

In 2024, 9.3 percent of U.S. adults identified as 2SLGBTQIA+, including more than 22 percent of Gen Z adults. This session will explore how doulas can support families in the 2SLGBTQIA+ communities. Lyanna will discuss how to incorporate inclusive language, understanding family dynamics and roles, helping families navigate health systems, and other key areas of support.

Lyanna Moore
Lyanna Moore is a certified doula, childbirth educator, and certified lactation specialist with over 4 years of experience supporting families through one of life's most transformative journeys. Lyanna's path to this work is deeply personal. After navigating her own birthing experiences, she became acutely aware of the disparities that exist within our communities. According to the CDC, birthing people of color are two to three times more likely to die during childbirth than white birthing people. That reality was impossible to ignore — and she knew she had to be part of the solution. Becoming a doula wasn't just a career choice; it was a calling. At Moore 2 Love Doula Services, she is committed to creating a safe, affirming space for every birthing person — regardless of race, socioeconomic status, gender identity, or physical ability. She also proudly provides queer and trans-inclusive care, because every family deserves to be seen, respected, and supported without exception. Lyanna offers comprehensive support before, during, and after birth, and accepts Michigan Medicaid because access to quality doula care should never be a privilege.

CONCURRENT / BREAKOUT SESSION C (choose one)

10 Things Doulas Need to Know About Billing Medicaid, Izzy Harper

Billing Medicaid can be an overwhelming process for most doulas. After successfully billing Michigan Medicaid for almost four years and three years teaching Heart Soul Birth Pros’ Medicaid Quick-Start Webinar, Izzy knows the issues that keep doulas from reaching their full billing potential. Join us to hear her 10 points of wisdom to help doulas with Medicaid billing, all with the goal of more doulas successfully supporting families throughout our state.

Izzy Harper, CD/PCD(DONA), CLC
Izzy Harper is a certified lactation counselor, certified birth and postpartum doula (DONA), and the Medicaid coordinator and HIPAA compliance officer for Birth Kalamazoo. Izzy has more than years of experience working with Medicaid clients, determining eligibility, and billing. Izzy also teaches a Medicaid Quick-Start Webinar, helping her fellow doulas become Medicaid enrolled in the state system CHAMPS. She has a degree in history from Grand Valley State University, and has worked for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Outside of birth work, she enjoys spending time with her three children, long distance running, gardening, and all things coffee.

Beyond the Shape: Compassionate Support for Curvaceous Lactating People

This specialized session will enhance your ability to provide tailored, empathetic lactation support for individuals with curvaceous bodies. This course explores the unique challenges and needs faced by curvaceous lactating people, offering practical strategies and compassionate guidance to improve their breastfeeding experience and duration.

Bianca Nash Miot, IBCLC, CD, CPST
Bianca Nash Miot is the founder of Birth Queens and Milk Queens in Southwestern Michigan. Her passion for breastfeeding support is rooted in her lived experiences and she recognizes the barriers to breastfeeding in her local community where support is desperately needed. Bianca is passionate about serving families of color who might not otherwise have access to birth and breastfeeding education and support. Since 2020, Bianca has trained countless cohorts of professionals around the country, including therapists, nurses, MDs, and other maternal and infant health professionals in both virtual and in-person formats. Her courses offer equity-focused education based on her experience with underserved populations and seek to diversify the field of lactation.

Holding Me, Holding You, Holding Us: Grounding and Secondary Trauma Support for Doulas

Doulas are uniquely positioned to witness intense emotional and physical experiences, which can leave a lasting imprint on their own nervous systems. This interactive session explores the impact of secondary trauma in doula work and offers practical, in-the-moment grounding tools to support both the doula and the birthing person. Drawing from both clinical therapy and birth work perspectives, participants will learn how to regulate their own nervous systems while maintaining deep, attuned presence. Through guided experiential exercises, doulas will practice skills they can immediately apply in the birth space. Attendees will leave feeling more resourced, with tangible strategies to sustain themselves in this deeply meaningful work.

Meaghan Brandow, LPC
Meaghan Brandow is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC). She has also received training as a postpartum doula through the How You Birth doula program in Muskegon Heights, Michigan, and received training as a Lamaze childbirth educator with Jessica English. For over 20 years, Megan has served in the mental health field in several roles as a therapist, clinical supervisor and professional development trainer. This experience and her cross-training uniquely position her to support clients and professionals in her areas of professional interest, including couples counseling, perinatal mental health, parent/child attachment and relationships, spirituality, and healing systemic racism and inequity.