Meet Colleen
Colleen is a DONA and Stillbirthday certified birth doula and a mother of five. Before having children she was going to school to become a labor and delivery nurse. While in school she became pregnant with a beautiful baby boy with Down syndrome. Suddenly her life of being a nurse was consumed with the beautiful life of being a stay-at-home mom. Four more wonderful children followed.
With every pregnancy and delivery of her own, she learned more about having a voice in her pregnancy, labor and postpartum care. She used her personal experiences to empower families. She was able to recognize how easily forgotten about her clients would have been without her support! She loves that she can not only be an incredible support, but that she can also truly empower her clients to find their own voices.
She is very committed to providing every client with support, encouragement, and resources. She strives to provide only evidence based resources so clients are able to make decisions that are best for their family. Since she has a son with Down syndrome she knows the importance of having resources available to make the best decision for each child. Her passion is to make sure every family she supports feels uplifted and empowered in every aspect of their birthing experience.
In her free time she enjoys spending time with her family hiking, camping, and tending to her animals on her farmette.
Vesna
8/2022
“Colleen was absolutely wonderful to work with! She was very knowledgeable and informative with every aspect of my pregnancy. When I had an urgent question in the middle of the night, she was available – this is so important because when you’re pregnant for the first time, you have a ton of questions and concerns, you need someone to help you not panic and inform you on what is going on; My OB was not available 24/7, but Colleen was! Whether it was certain pain or discomfort I had, my water breaking or even helping with by baby when his umbilical cord falling off – she was there to help assure us on what what happening. Colleen is very sweet and easy to talk to – she explained everything in detail and was not judgmental; She supported all of our decisions. It was great to have Colleen at the hospital as she worked well with the hospital staff to ensure we had the best experience – we were all a team! I would highly recommend hiring Colleen as your doula!”
Kristin
9/2021 via Yelp
“I can’t speak highly enough about Chicago Family Doulas and the wonderful experience I had with them when welcoming my first child. Anna was great at assessing the type of birth doula I was looking for and the experience I was after and then matching me with my doula, Colleen, who was perfect for our family. Colleen was genuinely invaluable to my prenatal prep and labor and delivery. During the last 2 months of pregnancy, she was a great sounding board for my worries, and also provided me with helpful resources that allowed me to make informed decisions about my pregnancy care. During labor, Colleen’s support was paramount. I was aiming for an unmedicated labor, and as my labor ended up being 17 hrs there was no way I could have made it that long without Colleen’s positivity, knowledge, and constant affirmations of “you’re so strong,” and “you’re doing great.” She never made me feel like I should feel guilty if I ended up wanting an epidural, merely encouraged me to find my strength, and I did! I have never been more empowered in my life than I was with Colleen by my side. She went above and beyond: feeding me ice chips, knowing which positions I should try, cleaning up fluids, coaching me on how to push, and offering counter pressure on my back for my 2 min apart contractions (which happened for all 17hrs!). She must have been so tired, but never wavered from being right there and in it with me. My husband keeps saying that he feels like he’s known her his whole life and that she brought he and I closer together during labor than we ever would have been if she weren’t there. Toward the end there were a few complications, and what could have been a day of pain and fear is a day my husband and I reflect on as an amazing day of positivity, joy, love, and empowerment. Colleen is a godsend and if I have more children, I will 100% be requesting her.” by far! Anna was amazing to work with- super responsive and matched us with exactly the right ladies. Caley was our postpartum doula and I just love her. She was so calm, nurturing, experienced, flexible, and understanding. I had some PPA and PPD postpartum. Knowing I could lean on Caley for support when I had questions, or that I could completely trust my baby with someone and I could take a night “off” was super helpful for my mood. I looked forward to the nights she was there like I looked forward to going on vacation. Having Caley with us was such a relief, and I will absolutely book Caley as soon as we are expecting baby number two. Thank you ladies!”