Stefanie Antunes had her first baby in 1998. The experience was NOT AT ALL what she had hoped for. Years later before the birth of her second baby, she made sure to attend childbirth education classes and become an informed decision-maker. This time, with the knowledge she needed and techniques she learned in class, she had a fabulous experience. Right away she knew she wanted to help other families to prepare for this important day. She became a Lamaze® Certified Childbirth Educator, and later a certified doula through DONA. She is the former Public Relations Director for DONA International and sits on the board of the Association of Ontario Doulas. She believes that the world can be a better place if parents can have more positive childbirth experiences, allowing them to bond properly with their babies. She works tirelessly to change the world in this aspect…one family at a time.

I am a mother of two with a fine arts degree. After the birth of my second child I started the journey to supporting women during pregnancy and birth. I am DONA International trained as a birth doula, a CAPPA trained postpartum doula, and have training from the Canadian Gynaecology Institute of Chinese Medicine in acupressure massage for labouring women. I am trained in rebozo techniques for labour pain relief and optimal baby positioning through the Gena Kirby Method. I also offer belly casting with an artistic flair to interested mothers.

Jayne comes from a family of many nurses and health care workers. Growing up around these professionals gave her a deep love and respect for care-giving, and wonderful insight into communicating with compassion.

Her mother cared for both of her grandmothers and other unwell family members in their home, and in so doing, set a clear example of the positive ways in which you can work with someone who is in need of support. There was no patronizing, no fear, and no assumptions. Jayne loved watching her mother in these situations and would follow her around asking questions incessantly. Even when she was quite young, Jayne’s mother showed the utmost respect for her curiosity and was very patient with her interest.  From witnessing her mother in this role, Jayne grew up to be a calm and non-judgemental person, even under the most stressful circumstances.

As a teenager, she refined her own ability to care for others when she began volunteering in an elderly care facility where she learned how powerful listening to people's stories could be. Jayne was teased by her peers for being so quiet and shy, but the people Jayne met while volunteering were grateful to have someone who would truly listen to them.

As your doula, Jayne will bring peace to your moments of worry, confidence to your moments of doubt, and care to those moments when you feel most vulnerable.

Dina’s first pregnancy and birth are what inspired her to become a dedicated and warm hearted doula.  When she was first pregnant she was surprised to hear and read all the information and stories that drew fear to the birthing experience.  This too made her fearful. She searched for other ways of birthing.  Looking for well trained, loving and dedicated support that she could draw on to help her and her partner feel calm and cared for while birthing their baby girl.  It is here where she found the incredible benefits of doula support. For this reason, Dina has brought particular attentiveness and grounding to the more than hundred clients she has supported over the past several years, so that they too may feel cared for, confident and connected to each other during their labour and birth. Her background in mentorship, crisis management and community development has taken her around the world, including Argentina and Paraguay, where she spent time as a doula supporting labouring mothers in local hospitals under particularly difficult circumstances.  This has given Dina a sincere appreciation for the unique circumstances surrounding each family and the importance in listening deeply to each of their needs. As a child Dina spent many hours accompanying her mother during her nursing shifts at a downtown Toronto hospital.  Seeing how dedicated the staff was to their patients has given Dina a tremendous respect for the health care team supporting the family's she works with, and is what has made her relationship with them easy and pleasurable.  At the same time, it has allowed Dina to advocate on her clients' behalf with confidence, patience and kindness. Dina brings all of these skills and experiences together to offer parents a variety of tools to draw on while birthing. Dina is also trained in the rebozo technique, massage and hypnobirthing, and has applied all these techniques over the years.  Dina has been a guest speaker at Humber college to 3rd year nursing students, and has written several articles on doula support, both in Toronto and overseas. Dina's calm personality, non judgemental approach, effective communication, and wealth of experience and skills, has allowed families to feel prepared, well supported and listened to during this important and vulnerable time in their lives. "I was looking for a warm, supportive Doula who would help me through my first Childbirth experience. Dina was all that and much more." F.Z.

Corina is a doula, childbirth educator, yoga teacher, and former academic (she used to be an archaeologist). After completing her prenatal teacher training with Blooma, Corina felt like she found her life's calling. Shortly after, she became a birth doula and a childbirth educator. Her diverse background, including sexual diversity studies and medical anthropology paved the path for her birth work. Corina believes in offering holistic and non-judgemental support to families of all shapes and sizes, understanding that there as many ways to birth as there are people. She uses her diverse background to offer a safe, supportive, and loving birth journey.  

I have always approached life and health in a natural and holistic way, so when I became pregnant with my first child thirteen years ago, my attitude towards my pregnancy and birth was the same. I had done a lot of research during my pregnancy, yet I was disappointed and unprepared when things did not go according to plan. For my next birth, I began a more serious study of the subject , and I am now a DONA educated birth & postpartum doula. Armed with knowledge, education and support, I went on to have three beautiful home births and I am now blessed with four healthy, successfully breastfed children. There are birth doulas, postpartum doulas and then there is me! I combine the two roles with childbirth education for a complete package. I believe that continuity of care is essential for parents to feel confident in their new roles. I work very hard to establish a trusting relationship with families early in pregnancy and this continues well after birth. My specialty is home and/or natural birth and if these are your goals then I am able to help you to achieve them, however I support families in many different situations who chose a variety of birthing options. Through education with evidence-based information, I assist you to become aware of your alternatives. Parents can then feel confident to make decisions regarding their births, whatever the situation may be. My services are tailored to each family’s needs and I offer several packages which include:

• private prenatal classes (Birth & baby preparation)
• birth doula services
• postpartum care (Basic newborn care, breastfeeding, etc.)

My goal is to help parents achieve births that promote better outcomes for both mother and child and help families get off to the best possible beginnings.

What is one thing about you most people don’t know about?

I trained as a professional dancer til an injury halted that career when I was 21. I took up dancing again a few years ago, and enjoy it more than ever before. Its been a dream come true to perform with my daughter over the last two summers in community projects with Dusk Dances and Porch View Dances.

What is one thing you are most scared about?

Losing faith.

Why did you become a doula?

I believe that a mother’s birth experience matters. It matters to her, it matters to her baby, it matters to her family, and by extension it matters to all of us. The scientific evidence concurs with this view. I chose to become a doula to support women in one of the most profound events in their lives. I truly believe that helping a mother to have a safe and satisfying birth can change the world. Becoming a doula has drawn together all the many threads in my life in a way that I could never have predicted, to weave a rich tapestry that feels complete.

What do you enjoy doing when you are not working as a doula?

When I’m not doula-ing, you might find me doing yoga or meditating, swooning over good poetry, cooking for my family or catching the latest Marvel universe superhero flick with my husband and girl.

What’s your favorite quote?

“All the suffering in the world has come from wanting happiness for yourself. All the happiness in the world has come from wanting to make others happy.” ~ Shantideva

I have a background in social work and working with families, specifically infants and children. Since being a little girl I’ve had a passion for helping people. I have always loved babies and after having my own children (in ways that went very differently then I had hoped), I became interested in how I could get involved in supporting families in their birthing and parenting journeys. Becoming a doula is a perfect fit for me to combine my passion and my experience into a very meaningful and rewarding career. My pastimes include soaking up as much time with my teenagers as I can, being with my extended family and friends, spinning, baking, sewing and reading.

Janalee has trained in Ontario, NYC and British Columbia with one intention: to gather all the necessary tools and skills to offer families the support and respect they deserve on their pregnancy and postpartum journey. She is now settled in the GTA and proud to serve families of all shapes and sizes. Janalee’s practice as a doula is centered on holistic, compassionate, and evidence-based care. She believes deeply in the power of a birthing person’s body and intuition, and that the way a person brings their baby earthside absolutely matters. Doula work has allowed Janalee the opportunity and honour to witness families as they bloom and grow into what they’ve always dreamed of becoming.