Meet Mary
Mary (she/her) is a certified doula and childbirth educator on our team who completed her training with Birth Boot Camp and Spinning Babies. She has been serving families as a doula since 2016. Prior to becoming a doula she was an elementary music teacher. She fell in love with doula work after her first son’s pregnancy where she took a comprehensive childbirth class and hired a doula. A year after that empowered and supported birth she began training as a birthworker herself.
She loves supporting families and finds that her confidence, ease of communication, and experience as a teacher naturally translates to birth work. Families describe Mary as deeply compassionate, calm, positive, and has a loving way she goes about being with them. They express gratitude for the wisdom, affirmation, and respect she carries into every space and in support of every birth plan. Birthing people feel prepared and cared for deeply, partners feel included and uplifted.
Mary is also a lifelong learner and is looking forward to completing the Birth Inclusivity Training Series, focused on the needs of sexual minorities, later this year. As a birth doula, she loves attending births in all settings, both medicated and unmedicated, and has experienced births at home, at birth centers, in labor & delivery, and the OR. She also has experience supporting planned C-sections. She believes that birthing people deserve to experience their own agency under all circumstances, and knows that doula support–including culturally competent and trauma-informed care–is one of the most important ways families can establish the foundation for their best birth experience.
Mary lives with her husband Jon, their housemate Renee, their two amazing sons, and dogs Sadie and Charlie. Outside work, you can find her under a tree–learning about gardening and foraging, spending time with friends & family, enjoying loose leaf tea, writing, or reading.
Maggie
3/2024 via Yelp
“Mary was a 10/10, significantly exceeding our expectations. She was very responsive throughout the entire process and was a true partner. She is someone you’d want by your side during labor, and she does a great job of supporting the needs of both partners. Mary was fantastic during a long labor process and helped us understand the process, communicate our preferences, and ultimately navigate a challenging birth situation in a way that left us very happy with how it all worked out. We can’t thank her enough! Highly recommend.”
Rebecca
10/2023 via Yelp
“We worked with Chicago Family Doulas for both birth and postpartum care. Anna was incredibly organized, kind, and helpful, and ensured that we were matched with an excellent labor and delivery doula as well as postpartum doulas. She also expertly coordinated scheduling for our postpartum doulas. Mary was our labor and delivery doula for the birth of our son in Prentice Women’s Hospital in Chicago a couple of months ago. Thanks to Mary, the birth went exactly as we were hoping. Her guidance and support throughout the whole process was critical to making our plan of an unmedicated birth a reality. She helped us prepare for the big day by meeting in person and over zoom to craft our detailed birth preferences sheet and teach us different types of birthing exercises and comfort measures. Her support during labor was also critical, and her prior experience enabled her to make helpful suggestions like dimming the lights and using a birthing ball between contractions. Her communication with the medical team and active physical support (in collaboration with my husband) ensured that I could focus entirely on breathing through each contraction and effectively managing the pain. After the birth, we had a lovely postpartum visit where Mary brought delicious snacks and checked in on how things were going with our new family of three. She also had some great advice for improving our quality of life as new parents. We are so grateful for her help throughout the process and cannot recommend Mary highly enough!”
Christine
9/2023 via Facebook
Noelle
2/2023 via Google
“Mary carries a warm, confident calm with her. The first thing she did when she joined my husband and I at the birth center was to give us both a big hug. Without missing a beat, she immediately began to assist my husband with providing counter-pressure to my contractions. Despite only meeting moments before, I knew we were in good hands. Her physical and emotional support never flagged during the following 8+ hours of labor. After birth, Mary helped my infant latch and successfully breastfeed before departing the birth center. She visited our little family at our home a week later to make sure we were doing well (and she even brought me a homemade treat!). I appreciated the chance to discuss my labor and birth experience with her, to better understand some details and aspects from her perspective. Mary is such a caring, capable person; she seems to shine with love and joy. I am delighted to have met her, and incredibly grateful to have had her help during the most difficult experience of my life. Last but not least, I want to comment on the compassionate and professional interactions I had with Anna and Nicole. Nicole patiently spent over an hour on the phone with me and my husband as we discussed my needs and desires that could impact the best fit doula assignment for us. Anna is a dedicated leader; she was the first person to reach out to me after I submitted the “contact us” form and the last person to wish me well after our contract was fulfilled. From my experience, CFD is a strong team built of incredible people. I’m so glad to have found them!”
Leah
5/2023 via Yelp
Ojus
5/2023 via Yelp
“We hired Chicago Family Doulas for both a birth doula and post partum doula and couldn’t be happier! Anna was really easy to work with, helping us get matched with the right people based on our preferences and theirs. Our birth doula Mary was incredible, offering personalized advice like suggesting we do an extended birth prep course to ease our anxiety. She helped us prepare a birth plan in person and even how to best cope with labor while at home by showing us stretches and positions. I can’t imagine our birth experience without her, supporting us each step of the way with information and compassion. It was a huge relief to have a post partum doula join us at home the day we got home from the hospital. We worked with a few folks, and all were eager and capable to jump in on everything from laundry to bathroom cleaning to childcare. I particularly appreciated their expertise, shadowing them during tasks and talking through tasks together to ramp my learning curve.”
Sarah O.
3/2023 via Yelp & Google
“We’re so grateful for the incredible labor and delivery support we received from Mary H. and Anna at Chicago Family Doulas! Their compassionate care exceeded my expectations and was incredibly impactful during the birth of our first child. If you’re undecided about whether to hire a doula or are trying to decide which agency you should go with, look no further than Chicago Family Doulas. I highly recommend getting support from this experienced and caring team.“
Benjamin F.
3/2023 via Yelp & Google
“Let me take a little time to brag on Mary: this was our first child and thus first time using a doula and the standard Mary set is now extremely high. Mary is a busy woman! She had multiple clients besides ourselves and yet it honestly felt like we were the only clients she had. The personal touch she put into every communication, whether virtual or in person, was top notch. Any type of information we needed was spelled out with clarity, wisdom, and compassion. Most importantly, our experience during the birth itself was where Mary really shined! She was responsive to us even in the wee hours of the night and ended up coming to the hospital extremely early in the morning and didn’t leave until LATE at night. Every precious hour she was with us she provided a calming and sturdy presence through one of the hardest 48 stretches of our lives. After the fact, we cannot imagine those moments without Mary by our side. After each medical staff came in and explained certain information to us, Mary made sure to translate it into layman terms, clearly laying out the pros and cons of the decisions we were asked to make, and stood by our side no matter what we landed on. The motif of our time with Mary was “above and beyond”; I kept saying that to my wife every time Mary demonstrated her expertise. We are so thankful for Anna, Mary, and the Chicago Family Doulas organization!”
Margaret
2/2023 via Google
“I cannot recommend this company enough to help with the physical and emotional journey of having a baby. Mary Hawkins was my labor doula and she honestly felt like a close member of my family leading up to, during, and after my labor. The amount of resources and emotional support she provided was truly exceptional – in person, on the phone, and through text. Thank you Mary and Chicago Family Doulas. Myself, my husband, and our new baby are forever grateful ❤️“
Cari P.
2/2023 via Yelp
“I had an amazing experience working with CFD, Anna, and Mary H! I had decided on getting a doula for my birth at the very last minute – I was around 37 weeks pregnant when I reached out to Anna and CFD. Anna was prompt, professional, and kind and connected me with Mary H., who was absolutely phenomenal throughout the entire process. Mary is knowledgeable, passionate, empathetic, and educational. She went the extra mile for us, spending 3 hours with us in our pre-partum visit to educate us and go through different spinning baby techniques. When labor took an unexpected turn, Mary was there for us to emotionally support us as we went for C-section and even stayed until the operation was over to check in with us afterwards. In her post-partum visit, Mary gave us resources and knowledge that I didn’t know I needed (and boy, did I need them!). Her communication skills are excellent and her follow-up emails and texts are always thorough reviews of our conversations and chock-full of helpful information. Mary goes beyond the expected and always made sure we felt supported before, during, and after labor.I can honestly say that my birth experience was better for having had CFD, Anna, and Mary involved. Can’t recommend them enough and having them on my birthing team was worth every penny!”
Camille
2/2023 via Google
“I had an amazing experience working with CFD, Anna, and Mary H! I had decided on getting a doula for my birth at the very last minute – I was around 37 weeks pregnant when I reached out to Anna and CFD. Anna was prompt, professional, and kind and connected me with Mary H., who was absolutely phenomenal throughout the entire process.
Mary is knowledgeable, passionate, empathetic, and educational. She went the extra mile for us, spending 3 hours with us in our pre-partum visit to educate us and go through different spinning baby techniques. When labor took an unexpected turn, Mary was there for us to emotionally support us as we went for C-section and even stayed until the operation was over to check in with us afterwards. In her post-partum visit, Mary gave us resources and knowledge that I didn’t know I needed (and boy, did I need them!). Her communication skills are excellent and her follow-up emails and texts are always thorough reviews of our conversations and chock-full of helpful information. Mary goes beyond the expected and always made sure we felt supported before, during, and after labor.
I can honestly say that my birth experience was better for having had CFD, Anna, and Mary involved. Can’t recommend them enough and having them on my birthing team was worth every penny!“
Claudia
12/2022 via Google
“Words cannot convey our gratitude to Mary. Her coaching and preparation leading up to our son’s birth were exceptional. We were more informed expectant parents as a result. And when our delivery at the hospital took an unforeseen turn, Mary was our rock. She provided sage counsel, emotional support, and a calming influence. I shudder to imagine our experience without her unique combination of positivity and pragmatism. We consider her a part of our family. You will feel the same if you’re fortunate enough to work with her.“
Felicia
12/2022 via Google
“Mary H. was absolutely integral to making our birthing experience a wonderful and positive experience. I can’t imagine having a more supportive doula. Mary went above and beyond providing consistent emotional and physical support. She brought so much positive energy and I always felt safe and supported, from my long labor all the way through postpartum. She’s a great listener and advocate. We feel so incredibly lucky to have been connected with her.”
Marissa T
11/2022 via Yelp & Google
“I had a great experience with Chicago Family Doulas. Anna is very helpful and responsive and works hard to connect you with a doula that fits your unique needs. She was very helpful when I needed to change doulas due to fit in the 11th hour and paired me with the wonderful Mary Hawkins. Mary is an incredible doula l, who I highly recommend. She is warm, knowledgeable and immediately puts you at ease. Her priority is to find out what you want out of your birth and support you in getting there. I was lucky that I was able to give birth in my ideal location, the Chicago Birth Center, without intervention, and Mary was incredibly supportive there. But I also had no doubt that she would have advocated for me and been rock steady if something unexpected had come up and I had not been able to give birth in my ideal setting. She was so incredibly supportive and helpful, helping me apply hypnobirthing techniques and supporting my partner during my birth. I could not have asked for a better experience, thanks to Mary and Chicago Family Doulas.”
Eric M
10/2022 via Yelp
“Mary H was great! My wife’s pregnancy became more complicated 3/4 of the way through, and that included a curveball during labor too. Mary was with us every step of the way, communicating well and spending the entire labor process with us in the hospital. She was calming and supportive, and highly recommend!“
Claudia
9/2022 via Yelp
“Words cannot convey our gratitude to Mary. Her coaching and preparation leading up to our son’s birth were exceptional. We were more informed expectant parents as a result. And when our delivery at the hospital took an unforeseen turn, Mary was our rock. She provided sage counsel, emotional support, and a calming influence. I shudder to imagine our experience without her unique combination of positivity and pragmatism. We consider her a part of our family. You will feel the same if you’re fortunate enough to work with her.”