Our Training Team
Our trainers are hand-picked for their ability to do three things: teach you, inspire you and help you grow. We support, encourage and spark each other to create great curriculum. Every Heart Soul Birth Pros trainer shares the same values (heart + business + community), and we're all successful birth business owners in our home areas. Get to know the team!
Interested in becoming a Heart Soul Birth Pros trainer? We're currently adding DONA approved birth and postpartum doula trainers, and we're also looking for Lamaze certified childbirth educators to become trainers. Email jessica@heartsoulbirthpros.com for all the details.
JESSICA ENGLISH, OWNER & LEAD TRAINER
BA, BDT/AdvCD/PCD(DONA), LCCE, FACCE
Jessica started her birth business as a childbirth educator in 2005. Today, she is also an advanced certified birth doula, postpartum doula, owner of Michigan's first and longest-running doula agency, and the owner and lead trainer at Heart Soul Birth Pros. She is a DONA approved birth doula trainer and a Lamaze program director and trainer. When she's not taking care of families or training up birth workers, Jessica is transitioning to become an "adulting consultant" to her sons as they blossom into amazing young men. She loves fishing, travel and spending time on the water with her husband Keith and their boys. Learn more about Jessica.
SAMIRAH MUHSIN, BREASTFEEDING TRAINER
IBCLC
Samirah Muhsin is an experienced lactation consultant, educator, and doula with nearly 15 years of service in the birth and breastfeeding community. As the owner of Family Whey Contemporary, Samirah provides skilled lactation consulting and doula services to families in Wayne County and across multiple states via telehealth. Samirah brings an interactive approach to teaching, drawing on her extensive experience in supporting families through pregnancy, postpartum, and breastfeeding journeys. She is passionate about equipping families and other birth workers with the knowledge and confidence to advocate for informed choices, fostering recognition of their inherent power and community care. She aims to support doula trainees in learning practical skills and evidence-based techniques while emphasizing the importance of equity in maternal and infant health. Samirah believes in making breastfeeding success accessible for every family—because there’s always a "whey" to do so.
SHONTE' TERHUNE-SMITH, BREASTFEEDING TRAINER
BS, IBCLC, CLS
Shonte’ Terhune-Smith is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant and health educator. She is also a co-founder of Southeast Michigan IBCLCs of Color. Over the past 10 years, she has worked diligently in Genesee County to increase breastfeeding rates. She has worked in the hospital as a lactation intern and at various pediatric and obstetrician clinics, promoting and educating women about breastfeeding. She facilitates local support groups, works with community partners, provides doula services, and recently completed training to be a childbirth educator. Shonte' has worked with hundreds of families to provide education, support, and empowerment. She prides herself in caring, professional, efficient, and trustworthy care. Normalizing breastfeeding is her passion. Her goal is to provide care with cultural humility for all families. Shonte’ has breastfed her four children and understands that there can be struggles of breastfeeding, the importance of support, and how rewarding it is to overcome the struggles. She lives in Grand Blanc, Michigan.
KRISTA MALTAIS, POSTPARTUM DOULA TRAINER
PDT/AdvPCD(DONA), ALC
Krista Maltais is an Advanced Certified Postpartum Doula (AdvPCD) and an Approved Postpartum Doula Trainer (PDT) through DONA International and an Advanced Lactation Consultant (ALC) through the Academy of Lactation Policy and Practice. She earned her bachelor’s degree in family studies from the University of New Hampshire and has worked as an adjunct professor at Great Bay College in the Early Childhood Education Department. Krista began working as a postpartum doula in 2006 and now owns Relief - Parenting Respite & Resource Center. She has worked as a postpartum doula with newborns (including many multiples), siblings and parents in a variety of settings both in the United States and abroad. She has a strong background in parent-child attachment, family dynamics, growth and development as well as family support. Krista lives in Hampton, New Hampshire.
ELON GEFFRARD, EQUITY TRAINER
BS, CD(DONA), CLC, ICCE
Medical racism and disparate care impact health outcomes, and it’s important for doulas to understand our role in working toward equity. With a combination of recorded and live content, Elon Geffrard guides our doulas to a shared understanding of the core concepts of birth and health equity, as well as giving us all a chance to explore our own identities. Black and brown doulas are lifted up in their unique role in addressing disparities, and white doulas are invited to go deeper in understanding the problem and how they can help too. Elon is a co-founder of Birth Detroit, Michigan's first Black-led birth center, and a midwifery student. In addition to her role as a DONA certified birth doula in private practice and with the Michigan Prison Doula Initiative, Elon is a former maternal health equity consultant with the Michigan Public Health Institute.
KIMBERLEY SIMS, EQUITY TRAINER
BA, CD(DONA)
Kimberley Sims is living out the vision of birth equity every day on the Lakeshore in West Michigan. She is a certified birth doula with DONA International and also supports families as a postpartum doula. Kim is a founder and leader in the How You Birth Doula Initiative in Muskegon and she has specialized her own doula practice, Just BE Doula Services in working with African American families. She is the former mayor and longtime community leader in Muskegon Heights, where she also ran a home daycare and preschool for more than eight years. Affectionately known throughout the community as T.T. Kim, she operates a thriving community space called Mahali, which in Swahili means “place.”