MEET OUR DOULAS
Who We Are
Contact your preferred doula directly! Scroll through to see each doula profile.
scroll down to see a more in-depth biography of each doula
Angie Danek
Founder of EHB, Birth & Bereavement Doula, Licensed Massage Therapist, and Student Midwife
Angie has been passionate about birth since witnessing the birth of her sister Amy when she was just 5 years old. By the time she was 18 she had attended over 15 births. Angie comes from a long line of healers, her father and three uncles are chiropractors who all have unique specialties, her brother is a Doctor of Osteopathy, and she has aunts in the fields of herbalism, and other various natural healing arts. She is the oldest of 10 children, 7 of whom were born at home and all of whom were homeschooled.
Angie attended California University of PA to complete her pre-requisites for attending Chiropractic school, when she met her husband-to-be, and changed the course of her life upon discovering that her passion for healing could be focused on a different direction. She graduated from Career Training Academy in 2001 with her degree in Massage Therapy and has since specialized in Pre-Natal/Pregnancy Massage, Aromatherapy, Myofascial release, Healing Stone Massage, Sports massage and more.
When she gave birth to her oldest son, her experience with the birth center she chose was less than stellar. She did not know anything, at the time, about doulas, and had instead taken the Bradley Method of coaching with her husband. Her expectation of her midwives was that they would be supportive in the same way her mother’s homebirth midwives had been, but that was not the experience she had. After the traumatic birth of her son, she became determined to find a better way. She had a doula attend with her at the birth center for her next two deliveries. The experience was so dramatically different that she began to explore becoming a doula herself.
She brought her knowledge of birth and birthing, massage and aromatherapy into her doula work and has been attending births in the Pittsburgh area since 2011. Through her years of having and raising her children, she experienced 7 miscarriages and secondary infertility, those experiences led her to a deeper understanding of autoimmune disease and the importance of healing the body on a deeper level. After several years of working toward healing her microbiome, she delivered her 4th child at home in 2017. She currently lives in Southwestern PA on her little urban homestead and is enjoying life and homeschooling her 4 children.
In 2019 she completed the H.E.R.B.A.L training programs for Birthkeeper/Doula, Peer Lactation Counselor and Placenta Encapsulation. In 2020 she completed the Bereavement Doula courses through the Institute of Birth, Breath and Death and Stillbirthday to continue to be able to support couples dealing with pregnancy & infant loss. In 2022 she added Neonatal Resuscitation (NRP) to her CPR certifications. She also enrolled in Ancient Arts Midwifery Institute to begin her journey serve families as a midwife.
Services:
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Pregnancy Massage/Acupressure
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Aromatherapy Services & Training
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Doula
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Placenta Encapsulation
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Peer Lactation Counselor
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Fermented Food Classes & Education
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Childbirth Education Classes
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Arvigo Abdominal Therapy (Maya Abdominal Massage)
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Advanced VBAC Doula Certification
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Breech Without Borders -Vaginal Breech Birth
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Neonatal Resuscitation Protocol (NRP)
203-725-6464
Brittany Leach
Birth Doula, Peer Lactation Counselor
Brittany feels like God has been secretly preparing her heart to be a doula her whole life. While in college receiving her Bachelor's of Science in Speech Therapy from California University of PA, she worked for a local obstetrics group. This is where her love of all things prenatal and postnatal began. After college she worked for a well known family Chiropractor and fell in love with whole body holistic wellness. During this time she trained with and became certified by C.A.R.E. and furthered her education with Young living Essential Oils and Wellness company. Brittany became a mother in 2018 and again in 2020 to two handsome little boys. In 2019 she felt called to train to become a Doula and Peer Lactation Counselor after her own birth and breastfeeding journey. She is empathetic to the pregnancy, labor and birthing process as well as the critical postpartum period. She feels especially called to supporting women on their lactation journeys. Brittany looks forward to assisting and caring for women during such a miraculously transitional time in their lives.
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"By becoming a doula, I hope to bring back the theory that, it takes a village to raise healthy children and to have a healthy home. I also hope to rewrite the standard of care for our mothers, and go back to supporting and celebrate one another through this season of life."
Amanda Mattei
Birth & Bereavement Doula
Amanda recalls that her interest in Pregnancy/Labor/Delivery started back in 2005 when she was in High School. She thought she wanted to be a Labor & Delivery nurse, and even began to pursue that route, until she realized it was not for her. She graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 2011 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Child Development and Family Relations. Though her interest in working for a hospital faded, and she couldn’t find her “place” in her college career, her passion and love for childbirth never ceased to exist. In 2019, she was pregnant with her first child. It was then that Amanda understood the importance of a Doula. She wanted to pursue a natural and authentic birth. She wanted to learn how to advocate for herself. She wanted to prove to herself that she was strong, powerful, and capable of all things. Because of her desires, she was guided into the direction of a Doula who would help her reach her birth goals. Fast forward to 2021, and she was pregnant with her second child. She thought she could handle this labor and delivery without a hitch, since this wasn’t her first rodeo. So, she decided to do this second labor and delivery without a Doula, only to find out that her labor and delivery was a lot more to handle with only the help of her husband. Her second birth displayed some complications, unlike her first. It was a complication that, having a Doula there, maybe would have had a different outcome. Thankfully she and her baby were and are OK but, she very quickly realized how things could have been different with a little extra support from a trained Doula. Lesson learned. As the years went on, and she was raising two babies, she always encouraged women to find a good advocate through a Doula, for their births. She would talk to her encouraging husband about her interest in pursuing the birth worker field, since she is a Stay at Home Mom, but the thought of leaving her babies for hours wasn’t something she was emotionally ready to do. Move to the beginning of 2023, and Angie Danek contacted her about taking on a client as a student Doula. At this time, her youngest child was nearly 2 years old and she felt ready to move forward into Doula work. She felt this was her calling from God, the nudge she needed to get into the birth working field, and to live the life she always dreamed about. Amanda has been attending births since 2022 (her first birth attendance was for her niece in May 2022). She is a certified Doula through Stillbirthday Birth & Bereavement Doula Training Program, and is also certified and trained in Neonatal Resuscitation (NRP). Amanda attends home, hospital, and birth center births.
724-972-2837
Becca Hancher
Doula, Birth Photographer
Becca has always known that birth work is her calling. In 2016, she went on a medical missions trip to Ethiopia, setting up clinics in different villages. It was there that she found her calling to help people, with an emphasis in birth work. From there she went to the University of Missouri with a major in Biology and was accepted into their nursing school. When the COVID-19 Pandemic hit in 2020, she had one year left before earning her RN BSN, with plans to become a CNM. Due to the restrictions from the pandemic, Becca took a break from university and went to Bible school. It was during this time she discovered doulas, home births and birth education. She feel in love with the holistic standard of care and she knew she wanted to dive into doula work starting by training with DONA. Because of her background, Becca has a solid understanding of the physiological and spiritual side of birth while maintaining an empathetic, nurturing composure. Her goal is to become a traditional midwife in the near future and this April she will be completed her NRP certification.
In addition, she offers professional birth photography. Her photography style is to capture the emotional, "moody" moments in labor, birth and breastfeeding. Her goal is to produce photos with texture and character, that tell a story of their own.
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"Behold, children are a heritage and gift from the Lord, The fruit of the womb a reward."
Psalm 127:3
724-328-1678
Jessica Weinstein
Placenta Preparation Specialist
Jessica Weinstein is a mom to four kiddos, 2 girls and 2 boys. She's CNA, Residential Care Aide, Homecare Aide, and Empowered Holistic Birth's Placenta Preparation Specialist. She's also a homeschooling. DIYing, semi crunchy mama! Jessica has always loved caring for people, and wanted to initially be a doula but she's in a different season of life at the moment. She caught the placenta bug when she encapsulation her third child's placenta. She was amazed at all the amazing benefits she wanted to try it for herself. She learned that it was something every mother should experience and decided that she wanted to just stick to placenta preparation for now. Jessica has encapsulated many placentas, and thoroughly enjoys preparing them for mamas so that they may experience all the amazing possible benefits it has to offer.
724-970-8300
Hannah Newbury
Doula, Student Midwife, Placenta Encapsulator
Hannah has been passionate about birth since her teens when she chose to begin independently studying. When first deciding to go to college she studied psychology, 2 years in she decided to go with her heart and change gears. The first change was marrying her high school sweetheart in 2015 and they welcomed there first child, a baby boy, after a long and traumatic birth in 2016. They then decided to be foster parents and through that welcome a baby girl to their family through adoption in 2018. 2019 was the year Hannah began apprenticing with a homebirth midwife and was in awe of how different birth could be. Soon after she enrolled in midwifery school and has continued to apprentice intermittently, while completing doula training through Cardinal Birth, placenta encapsulation through H.E.R.B.A.L. and getting certified in both neonatal resuscitation and CPR. In March of 2022 a baby girl was welcomed into the family in a very peaceful home birth
Hannah lives deep in the woods overlooking the Allegheny River where she homeschools her children and in her spare time sews for the small handmade shop she and her husband own.
724-992-3280
Morgan Darr
Postpartum Doula
Hi! My name is Morgan Nicholson. I live in Robinson, PA with my husband, Andrew and baby boy, Brooks.
I am a postpartum Doula, having completed certification and courses in Birth, Postpartum and bereavement through StillBirthday and also completed additional courses on breastfeeding, tongue and lip ties and safe sleeping habits through The Newborn Care Institute. I have over 10+ years of experience with families and children working as a nanny. I have worked with adoptive families, foster care children, special needs children, multiples and ages ranging from days old to 12 years old. I also am first aid and CPR certified.
Being a Postpartum Doula, I am passionate about helping new moms recover and nourish their bodies through rest and nutrition. I especially enjoy helping baby adjust to their new life outside the womb, and encourage ways for new parents and baby to bond as they start their new journey together. I became passionate about postpartum care after having my son via c-section and going through postpartum struggles myself like baby blues, latch issues & bonding difficulties. I also have witnessed a close family member struggle through a traumatic birth, and postpartum depression, which fuels my desire to aid new moms in care that will help them through the fragile postpartum season. I want to help mothers receive the proper care that they need after birth and in doing so, giving them the most enjoyable, low stress and restful experience postpartum.
Some of the other ways I help new parents is with meal preparation, light housework, running errands, appointments, and also caring for baby so new moms can rest and focus on their recovery. Feel free to reach out anytime! I would love to help you transition smoothly into motherhood!