Postpartum Doula Care

Anuta Bondarenko

Anuta is an experienced prenatal movement specialist who is also a birth and postpartum doula. Anuta focuses on helping her clients prepare their body for a birthing experience that is rooted in body awareness, trust and intuition, not in fear. As a somatic yoga teacher and certified Body Ready Method® pro, she identifies body imbalances and provides personalized movement tools to deepen your body awareness and ease pregnancy discomforts. She prepares you for childbirth and offers continuous support during labor and early postpartum.

Anuta joined Kaer in 2016 as a prenatal and postnatal teacher and her regular classes have been highly popular, often described as especially helpful for various discomforts associated with pregnancy and early postpartum. She also teaches a quarterly educational workshop on stages of labour and the role of movement called “Birth Flow”.

Anuta completed her 200-hour Yoga teacher and personal development training with Downward Dog Yoga Centre in Toronto in 2012. She subsequently trained with Sasha Padron of Yoga Space to complete her advanced prenatal and postnatal yoga training in 2016. She regularly deepens her knowledge of human anatomy, biomechanics of childbirth and functional movement through various workshops and has acquired over 1000 hours in additional training. Anuta holds certifications in Functional Range Conditioning (FRC), MovNat and Body Ready Method® and has completed birth and postpartum doula training with DONA International. Anuta is passionate about helping moms have the most empowering experience of childbirth and postpartum as well as enhancing their busy lives with embodied, diverse everyday movement for healthier, happier lives. She enjoys a movement-rich life herself with her husband and three kids in Riverdale, Toronto.

Credentials:

• Birth and Postpartum Doula Training with DONA international
• Body Ready Method® certified
• Breastfeeding for birth professionals
• Infant First Aid/CPR
• Spinning Babies Workshop
• Advanced Prenatal Yoga teacher training with Sasha Padron and Michelle Fraiser
• Mindful Strength Training
• Trained with Yogadetour
• FRC certified
• MovNat certified

Marj Wong

Marj is a birth and postpartum doula, a yoga / fitness instructor, an essential oil educator, and a mom of two! She is deeply committed to wellness as a holistic lifestyle.

As a DONA certified doula, Marj believes that it is within each birthing person’s innate wisdom and ability to give birth. Further, she believes that birthing should be an empowering experience.

Throughout both of her own pregnancies Marj practiced prenatal yoga, and she attributes her own remarkable birth experiences to her yoga practice and the HypnoBirthing method.

From motherhood, becoming a birth and postpartum doula was a natural progression for Marj and she quickly found herself fully immersed in supporting clients through pregnancy, labour and beyond. It is in this role where Marj feels her intuition, guidance, and personal experiences to be incredibly supportive and valuable.

Marj is a diaper free, breastfeeding, and HypnoBirthing advocate. She is trained in many comfort techniques and keeps her approach educational and informative. With her help, you will gain the confidence to nourish and care for your baby and yourself in the best way possible.

• Credentials:
  DONA International certified doula
• Working with Multiples Training
• Acupressure for Labour – Canadian Gynecology Institute of Chinese Medicine (CGICM)
• Acupressure Comfort Measure Workshop for Birth Professionals – Better Birth 360 & AcuMassage Therapy Center
• Trained in TENS Machine comfort measures ( DONA)
• The Rebozo Connection – Gena Kirby Method
• Prenatal Coaching Essentials – Birth Coach Method
• Certified in HypnoBirthing – Support Techniques for Birth Professionals
• Certified in Breastfeeding – Support for Birth Professionals (Level 1&2)
• Hot HIIT Pilates Instructor Training
• Certified Blooma Prenatal Yoga Instructor (Level 1&2)
• Certified Bikram Yoga Instructor (750hrs)
• Emergency First Aid & CPR/ AED

Karla Jassoy

​Karla is a dedicated birth and postpartum doula and childbirth educator with over 10 years of
experience supporting families throughout Toronto. Her journey in this field has been driven
by her passion for helping families navigate the beautiful and transformative experience of childbirth and early parenthood.

Karla's proactive nature, coupled with her skills as a good listener and highly organized
individual, ensures that she is always ready to provide the best possible support to the
families she works with. Her three young children are her greatest inspiration and motivation to be her best every day.

Karla specializes in creating personalized birth plans and providing holistic postpartum care, ensuring that each family’s unique needs and preferences are met. She also has a niche in supporting parents with sleep education, helping them establish healthy routines and confidence in their parenting journey. Karla also has extensive experience guiding parents through breastfeeding, ensuring they feel confident and supported during this crucial time.

Drawing from her experience as a ballet dancer, Karla incorporates ballet fitness techniques, such as barre, into her prenatal classes. These exercises are amazing for preparing the body for birth, promoting ease and calm during pregnancy and labour.

In her free time, when she’s not supporting families or teaching prenatal classes, Karla enjoys cooking and practicing ballet. She is fluent in Spanish, French, and English, which has enabled her to connect with people from diverse backgrounds.

​Credentials:
● DONA-trained Birth and Postpartum Doula
● Member of the Association of Ontario Doulas
● Badt-Certified Childbirth Educator
● Hypnobirthing Practitioner
● Certified Sleep Educator
● Member of the Association of Professional Sleep Consultants
● Member of the Sleep Research Association
● Completed Newborn Baby Care Specialization at The University of Colorado
● Nutrition and Lifestyle in Pregnancy certification from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität
München
● Certified in Clinical Aromatherapy
● Pursuing a degree in Health Science

Suki Gaetz

Suki has a genuine, creative and real approach to life, whose passion for all things Birth and Babies motivated her to begin her next career journey as a fully trained Birth Doula.  She comes from past work experience in the field of Social Services helping women, children and families advocate for support through difficult stages and experiences of life.

As a doula, she is eager to assist women through their births, so that they can have the kind of experiences that they envision as they go through this beautiful and unpredictable moment.

​She brings an easy-going, kind hearted and vibrant nature to the work with birthing people and their partners, and her ability to listen and empathize helps birthing individuals feel heard and understood.
​
Suki's credentials:
• Dona trained postpartum and birth Doula
• certified birth Doula through Dona
• social service worker diploma
• bachelors of sociology
• certified medical transcriptionist
• Health Canada standard infection control
• Dona infant sleep care for Doula’s course

Juliet Beckwith

Juliet Beckwith is a full spectrum doula currently working in the GTA to support hospital and out-of-hostpial births as well as postpartum. She possesses training and two years of experience in birth comfort measures, physiology, HypnoBirthing as well as a decade of care work, advocacy and conflict resolution. During postpartum, she is trained to support breast/chest-feeding, sleep, newborn care, and physical and emotional recovery. Juliet strongly values informed consent and evidence-based care. In her practice she offers tangible, physical assistance, helping families develop tools to listen to intuition, access self-trust, and hone advocacy skills. She hopes you will leave working with her feeling like someone was truly there for you and you were celebrated with attention and care during a big moment in your life.

Melissa Acuña

Melissa is a full-spectrum birth and postpartum doula, herbalist, and holistic wellness advocate dedicated to supporting mothers through pregnancy, birth, and beyond. She provides compassionate, evidence-based, and intuitive care, honouring the physical, emotional, and spiritual journey of motherhood.

With a strong foundation in herbalism and holistic nutrition, Melissa has worked with medicinal herbs, crafting custom formulas to support pregnancy, birth recovery, and postpartum wellness. Her experience at Roncy’s Apothecary and Aiyana Nutrition deepened her understanding of nourishment and natural healing, allowing her to guide mothers in caring for their bodies with gentle, plant-based support.

Melissa supports mothers in a variety of birth settings, including hospitals, birth centers, and home births, with a special appreciation for the natural rhythms of birth. She helps families feel informed and confident, holding space for them to embrace birth with trust and support.

Having cared for children since her teens through teaching and childcare, Melissa brings a nurturing and intuitive approach to postpartum care. She also draws from her background as a dancer and her experience facilitating a women’s intuitive dance circle, believing in the power of movement and embodiment. Fluent in Spanish, she strives to make her care accessible to a diverse community of families.

Melissa sees birth as a sacred, transformative experience. She walks alongside mothers with warmth and wisdom, holding space for them to embrace motherhood with trust, strength, and support.
​
Credentials

• Certified Full-Spectrum Birth & Bereavement Doula - Still Birthday
• Postpartum Doula Certification - Birthing Supernaturally
• CPR/AED First Aid Level C Certification - Heaven Can Wait Emergency First Aid Training
• Mentored - By Charmaine Hinds, full-spectrum birth & postpartum doula
• Community Herbalism - Commonwealth School of Holistic Herbalism
• Current Herbalist Assistant - Gaia School of Healing (Ontario)
• Basics of Breastfeeding - Laleche Legue
• Birth Justice & Advocacy - Med Melenin
• Water Birthing - The Giving Tree
• Intuitive Dance - Dancing Eden

Adrienne Wetherell

Adrienne is a birth & postpartum doula, yoga teacher, and proud mama. She attended her very first birth in 2012 and was immediately hooked! Adrienne offers caring, compassionate, non-judgmental support to expectant parents and is honoured to work with families during such a life-changing time. As an experienced doula, she supports clients who are low or high-risk, who have had fertility challenges, previous traumatic births or pregnancy loss, anxiety, depression and trauma. 
A certified yoga teacher since 2005, Adrienne is passionate about making the practice of yoga a safe, nourishing and fun experience for her participants. She has taught in corporate, hospital and yoga studio locations throughout Toronto and has additional training in mindfulness, prenatal/postnatal yoga and trauma sensitive yoga.
Adrienne gave birth to her breech baby in September 2013 and has since been journeying through the joys and challenges of motherhood.

Credentials:

• Birth & Postpartum doula training with DONA International 

• Birth doula training with Heart of Birth

• Breastfeeding for birth professionals

• Acupressure for birth professionals

• Spinning Babies Workshop with Tammy Ryan

• First Aid/CPR

• ​Yoga for pregnancy & birth

• Postnatal yoga

• Mindful Motherhood facilitator training (Cassandra Vieten, PhD)

• Trauma Sensitive Yoga certificate program (The Trauma Center at JRI/Kripalu Center)

Rhondda Smiley

Rhondda is a birth & postpartum doula, breastfeeding specialist, yoga & meditation instructor, who offers grounded and compassionate care to diverse families across Toronto. She feels honoured to be invited into some of the most important yet vulnerable moments of their lives.

She began supporting moms and babies over 15 years ago, providing breastfeeding support as a La Leche League Leader. Rhondda completed her first yoga teacher training with The Yoga Sanctuary in 2014, and soon added certification in prenatal and postpartum yoga. She has been practicing as a doula since 2015, and is certified by DONA. Her continuing education and certifications include: Rebozo, TENs Machine, When Survivors Give Birth, Birth Story Listening, Yoga Nidra and more. She holds a fine arts degree in dance, and has been practicing yoga for over 20 years. She has a Toronto Police Services vulnerable sector check, and Infant CPR and First Aid training.

Rhondda is devoted to your birth and postpartum experience. All of her training, skills and expertise are at your service, so that you will feel prepared and confident. She listens deeply to what is most important to you, helping you to navigate the many decisions that arise, while supporting your choices without judgement. She is committed to using the most current evidence-based resources. As a movement professional, she shares practices and positioning to optimize your pregnancy and birth. Rhondda's yoga classes are loved for their meditative slow flow that leaves you feeling more ease and joy in your body, mind and heart.

Ali Santin

Rooted in a deep desire to help people, being a birth and postpartum doula comes naturally and easily to Ali. She feels at the heart of her role as a doula is meeting you wherever you are. Which means tailoring her approach to meet that of your individual needs.

As a Mama of 2, she knows first hand that the pregnancy, birth and postpartum period can be overwhelming. In her experience having someone in your corner who is sensitive to your needs can ease the journey. 

Along with her experience, evidence based information, emotional and physical support Ali will always bring her love and care, nurturing you and your growing family. 

Credentials:

• Birth and Postpartum Doula Training with DONA International
• Advanced VBAC Doula Certification with the VBAC Link 
• Breastfeeding for Birth Professionals
• Infant Aid/CPR
• Spinning Babies Workshop
• When Survivors Give Birth 
• Trained in TENS Machine Comfort Measures
• Trained in Rebozo Techniques - the Gena Kirby Method 
• Pregnancy and Infant Loss Training with Doula Canada ​​

Nwando Ononye

Nwando Ononye is a certified postpartum doula with a heart for caring for new families. She
understands that the transition into parenthood can be both beautiful and overwhelming, and she is passionate about offering gentle support, reassurance, and guidance to help new parents feel confident and at ease.
Before becoming a doula, Nwando spent four years as a nanny, supporting families with infant care, early childhood development, and day-to-day family life. Her experience caring for little ones has given her a natural, calming presence and a deep understanding of what both babies and parents need to thrive.

With a warm and nurturing approach, she helps families feel more confident, rested, and
supported. Whether through newborn care, postpartum recovery, or emotional encouragement, her goal is to create a peaceful, reassuring space where parents feel cared for as they care for
their baby.

Valeka Norbi

Valeka Norbi is an Ontario Certified Teacher and Certified Full Spectrum Doula with over a decade of experience supporting families, children, and individuals through transformative life moments. With a background in education and holistic care, I have worked in both traditional and specialized learning environments, teaching students from kindergarten to grade 8 while focusing on inclusive, culturally sensitive approaches to support diverse learning needs. 

As a full spectrum doula, I provide emotional and physical support during pregnancy, birth, postpartum, and bereavement, always prioritizing empowerment, informed decision-making, and healing.

My approach blends my expertise in education and doula care to offer families a compassionate, personalized experience. Whether guiding families through pregnancy or loss, supporting those with newborns, or offering childbirth preparation, I am dedicated to fostering trust, open communication, and a sense of empowerment. Passionate about community, advocacy, and healing, I work to ensure every family feels supported and confident during life’s pivotal transitions.

April Kowaleski, R.Ac

April Kowaleski, R.Ac

April is a Registered Acupuncturist (R.Ac) with the College of Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners and Acupuncturists of Ontario (CTCMPAO).

She started her journey in health care 35 years ago as a pharmacy technician at the Hospital for Sick Children. When she started having children of her own, her focused changed to natural health and she became a holistic nutritionist. After having children, April fell in love with the birth process and turned her focus to working as a birth and postpartum doula, supporting families through this wonderful but sometimes challenging stage of life. She worked as a doula for 15 years, and at this point, decided to study Acupuncture. She had witnessed many times the power of Acupressure points during labour and decided to make this medicine the next step in her journey in health care.

​April uses her experience and education to help people move through the many stages of life. She can treat both mental and physical aliments to help create balance and good health in the body.

Giselle Johnston (Currently on parental leave)

Giselle provides support to birthing people during labour, postpartum families and those experiencing pregnancy & infant loss & termination.

Giselle became a doula because they wanted people to feel safe, validated and well cared for during the unique transitions that one experiences once they become pregnant. Giselle is a lactation counsellor with clinical training (Newman Clinic). They continue to provide in person & virtual care for families through perinatal education, evidence based information, and an attentive ear-free of judgement. Their full spectrum practice is rooted in reproductive justice and anti-oppression.

Credentials:

• DONA doula training
  Birthing From Within doula training
• Karma Yoga Teacher training 200 hours
• Lactation Medicine Student at the International
• Breastfeeding Centre (Newman Clinic) (ongoing)
• PAIL advocate - Pregnancy and Infant Loss Training
• Car seat Technician CPSAC (The Child Passenger Safety Assoc. of Canada)
• Abortion Support Skills Course with Full Spectrum Doula Circle
• Acupressure for Birth
• 9 years supporting twin families
• Anti-Oppression training with SOY

Léa Beauvais (Currently on parental leave)

Léa is a Mama of one sweet soul and a lover of the perinatal period. Her own journey through matrescence (the transition to motherhood) sparked her passion for supporting parents through this vulnerable and life-altering season. She offers a compassionate, non-judgmental and trauma-informed approach to doula care. She also has a keen interest in helping parents process the time leading up to their birth and beyond, should they feel the call. She is here to lend a listening ear.

Léa has ample experience working with families from her many years as a parent and tot music teacher with Rainbow Songs. She also has training in prenatal yoga, kids' yoga, and Hatha yoga. She further supports families as a part-time receptionist at a prominent parent- and baby-centred health clinic. She is looking forward to supporting you!

Credentials:

• Postpartum Doula training - Doula Canada
• First Aid/CPR
• Prenatal Yoga Instructor training - Yoga Mamas
• Kids' Yoga Teacher training - Appleseed Yoga
• Trauma-Informed Yoga training - New Leaf Foundation
• 200h Yoga Teacher Training - Kula Annex
• Music Teacher of Young Children with Rainbow Songs
• Honours Bachelor of Applied Arts in Musical Theatre Performance - Sheridan College
• Honours Bachelor of Humanities in English - McMaster University
• ​Fluent in French