About Chicago Family Doulas
Chicago Family Doulas is a premier doula agency providing exceptional birth, postpartum, and newborn care support to families throughout Chicago and the surrounding suburbs. Since 2010, we have helped tens of thousands of families navigate pregnancy, birth, and the early months of parenthood with confidence, expert guidance, and compassionate care.
Our carefully selected team of professional birth and postpartum doulas and newborn care specialists is dedicated to delivering personalized support tailored to each family’s unique needs. Whether welcoming a first baby, growing a family, recovering from birth, or navigating life with twins, our goal is to create a calm, supported, and restorative transition into parenthood.
Known for our exceptional overnight newborn care services, we help parents get the rest they need while ensuring their baby receives attentive, nurturing, and developmentally appropriate care throughout the night.
Our Mission
Our mission is to provide families with exceptional, evidence-based support during pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period while creating a more peaceful and confident transition into parenthood.
We believe every family deserves access to highly trained professionals who offer expert guidance, compassionate care, and unwavering support during one of life’s most important seasons. Through personalized services and a commitment to excellence, we help families feel rested, informed, and supported from pregnancy through the newborn months.
Meet Our Admin Team
Anna
Founder & CEO; Director of Birth & Baby Education
Anna Rodney, Owner and Founder of Chicago Family Doulas. Anna has supported families as a doula since 2009 and is honored to provide families with professional, compassionate, and personal support. Anna gives 200% in all she does in life and brings this commitment and passion to every aspect of her care when she supports families. Learn more about Anna here.
Ashley
Client Communications Specialist
Ashley’s professional experience is rooted in facilitating clear communication and she is proud to bring those skills to the Chicago Family Doulas admin team. A believer in supporting and empowering women through birth and postpartum, Ashley sought doula care with her very first birth. The support she received enabled her to be the mother she hoped to be and shaped her motherhood journey. Knowing this, she is thankful to play a role in connecting and supporting families during these delicate seasons. In her free time, Ashley can be found exploring the outdoors with her three children and husband, completing endurance hikes, photographing life’s sweet little moments and always – planning her next adventure.
Bri
Director of Client Communications, Talent & Professional Standards
Briana is a new mom, science nerd, and foodie at heart. She has a background in biochemistry and public health, and has worked in both lab settings and as an epidemiologist for the state of Nevada. After having her daughter and experiencing the magic of doula support firsthand, she knew she wanted to be part of this amazing world. She’s excited to bring her skills to the team and support Chicago Family Doulas in growing their impact. When she’s not working, you can find her squeezing in a workout, planning her next travel adventure, or spending time with her family.
Brooke
Brand Content Specialist
Brooke is the proud mother of two amazing girls and has always had a passion for children and education. She loves everything about pregnancy, birth, and babies. After spending many years in the education system and watching her daughters grow older, Brooke still felt called to support and nurture families in a meaningful way. This led her to the rewarding world of postpartum doula care, where she completed her training through Birth & Baby University and had the privilege of working with many wonderful families. Since then, Brooke has been grateful for the opportunity to expand her role with Chicago Family Doulas, contributing on the administrative side while continuing to support the organization’s mission. On her ideal day, Brooke can be found sipping an iced coffee and soaking up the Arizona sunshine.
Chelsea
Director of Strategic Partnerships, Talent & Professional Standards
If you reach out to Chicago Family Doulas, chances are your preliminary call will be with Chelsea! She has been a well-loved labor and postpartum doula on our team for nine years. As much as she loves supporting families through birth, she is incredibly grateful for the opportunity to now coordinate new CFD families with doulas. She has twins of her own, which makes her have a deep understanding about twins and multiples. Chelsea loves connecting with families, and they describe her as outgoing and incredibly compassionate.
Christine
Director of Community Engagement; Brand Content Specialist
Christine first trained as a doula after the birth of her first son 18 years ago! She has been working as a birth doula for the last 6 years and has been on CFD’s team since 2016. Christine is a birth nerd at heart and has a passion for sharing everything she loves about birth, postpartum and parenting on our social media pages. She also helps manage our class offerings. Follow us on Instagram and Facebook to keep up with our team and offerings!
Courtnay
Client Experience Manager
Courtnay is a skilled birth and postpartum doula and pediatric sleep consultant, blending a wealth of experience and compassion in guiding families through the transformative moments of childbirth and early childhood. As a mother to a four-year-old daughter with special needs, Courtnay brings a personal understanding to her work, enhancing her ability to connect with the families she assists. Advocating for maternal mental health is a cause close to her heart, reflecting her commitment to your whole well-being during the critical phases of parenthood. During her downtime, Courtnay enjoys going for drives, reading, and embarking on adventures with her daughter.
Don
Client Accounts & Benefits Experience Manager
Don is the Accounts Manager at Chicago Family Doulas, bringing a unique background as a former high school teacher and head wrestling coach. Known for his strong leadership and attention to detail, Don transitioned into the business world with the same discipline that helped him excel in athletics. A black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and a 3x world champion, he continues to train and compete in his free time. Outside of work, Don enjoys spending time with his family, traveling, and staying active on the mats. Fun fact: he is Anna’s younger brother.
Erica
Director of Client Experience
Erica is honored to serve as Doula Coordinator with Chicago Family Doulas. Since 2015, she herself has served as a birth and postpartum doula and she has been supporting families for many years. As a mother of four, she has a deep understanding of the tenderness and preciousness of the moments of pregnancy, birth, and postpartum recovery. She is now helping the admin team as their Doula Coordinator. Erica keeps in touch with all of the doulas on our team, helps answer any questions they may have, makes sure they feel supported, and keeps the lines of communication open.
Jenna
Human Resource Director
Jenna is a valued member of our Hiring Team, helping welcome and onboard new doulas into our community. She is known for her meticulous nature, strong organizational skills, and genuine care for others, making her an important part of creating a positive onboarding experience. Jenna is inspired by the love, support, and connection that define the birth and postpartum world. When she’s not working, she loves spending quality time with her amazing daughter, who happily keeps her busy and fills her days with joy.
Kristen
Family Concierge Specialist
Kristen is proud to be working alongside our Admin Team as a Doula Coordinator. She is a certified postpartum doula. She’s continuing her education in the doula world and is excited to grow with this amazing team. She has two children who have really taught her what love and happiness is. She is one of six children, so she really knows what patience and guidance truly means in a family. In here free time, she loves practicing yoga, traveling with family and friends and loves to garden.
Leja
Client Experience Manager
Leja loves her role as a member of the On Call Team at Chicago Family Doulas! As a member of the team Leja applies her collective knowledge from several years experience as a Postpartum Doula, NCS & Pediatric Sleep Coach to answer the questions of doulas & the families that they support. She recognizes that each family is unique & enjoys finding just the right doula to fit the needs of your family. When Leja isn’t supporting doulas and families of the Chicagoland area she enjoys spending time with her main squeeze, teenage daughter & their best furry friend doing things like hiking, gardening, reading & paddle boarding.
Maddie
Strategic Partnerships Manager
Maddie is an integral part of our admin team and serves as our Events Coordinator. She is also an experienced Newborn Care Specialist with a strong background in newborn and child care. Trained as an NCS, Maddie provides compassionate overnight and daytime newborn care tailored to each family’s unique needs. Known for her calm confidence, adaptability, and nurturing approach, she brings reliable support, comfort, and structure to every household she works with.
Marcela
Family Intake Coordinator
Marcela is thrilled to be serving on Chicago Family Doulas’ Admin Team! She enjoys connecting with families as they find their perfect doula match. She is a doula, childbirth educator, and perinatal coach at heart. Prior to devoting her time exclusively to birth-related work, she was a fifth grade teacher. She has worked with families for over 15 years and is passionate about supporting people on their perinatal journey. Marcela has traveled to over 35 countries and enjoys spending time learning about cultures, holistic health, nature, and cooking/baking nourishing foods.
Marisa
Client Experience Manager
Marisa is a well-loved CAPPA-trained labor doula and Birth and Baby University-certified postpartum doula who discovered her passion for doula work through her own birth and postpartum experiences. Inspired by the support she received from her own doulas, she felt called to provide that same compassionate care to other families. Marisa is passionate about empowering women through every stage of motherhood and providing emotional, physical, and informational support so families never feel alone in their journey. She is currently part of our on-call admin team at Chicago Family Doulas.
Melissa
Client Experience Manager
Melissa is a certified labor and postpartum doula with Chicago Family Doulas as well as one of our office assistants! She believes education is critical and is incredibly passionate about learning and improving her skills and expanding on her knowledge base. It is an incredible honor for Melissa to help provide care for moms and families through this process, and now as well as helping on the admin side of the business! In Melissa’s free time, she loves spending time with family and reading anything she can get her hands on.
Michelle
Project Manager Lead
Michelle has been working for Chicago Family Doulas as its office manager since 2018. As Anna’s business began to grow, Michelle was brought in to help organize and manage the office so that nothing would ever get missed! She has now transitioned into a project manager position for Chicago Family Doulas and Birth & Baby University. She has a BA in English from DePaul University, and worked in insurance prior to joining CFD. She loves all things related to organization and is incredibly meticulous! Fun fact: she is Anna’s sister-in-law!
Nicole
Director of Family Intake
If you reach out to Chicago Family Doulas, chances are you will end up speaking with our family coordinator, Nicole! Nicole is an incredibly experienced birth and postpartum doula with over 14 years of experience supporting families. She started her career in the medical field and doula care was an easy and natural transition for her. She has been with Chicago Family doulas for 5 years and has loved working with our families hands on. She is a mother of five children, both biological and adopted. Nicole is also a trained and certified mental health advocate. She loves getting to know all of our incredible families and making genuine connections.
Nina
Director of Brand Marketing
Nina is the social media manager for Birth & Baby University and a mom to a funny and outgoing little boy. When she’s not spending time with him, she’s coordinating engaging posts and reels that are both educational and fun for our social media accounts. Nina knows there is so much to learn about pregnancy, postpartum, and beyond and she loves to share her knowledge with all of our followers. She has taken the doula courses and is excited to learn more and grow with this amazing team. Follow us on Birth and Baby University’s Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok to see more of Nina!
Priscilla
Director of Client Communications
Priscilla is proud to be an office assistant, working alongside the other amazing admin team members. She also loves teaching birth classes on her weekends and educating familes on all things relating to childbirth, caring for babies, and supporting families as they grow. She is also a trained CAPPA postpartum doula and who uses her experiences as a former teacher to best serve the needs of her clients. She has two little ones and a husband at home with her and they always remind her to begin each, new day with love, happiness, and peace in her heart.
Sydney
Client Communications Specialist
Sydney is the proud auntie of five boys and one girl, and her passion for supporting families began long before entering the admin team at Chicago Family Doulas. Being present for the births of two of her nephews inspired Sydney to learn more about pregnancy, birth, and postpartum support. For the past five years, she has worked as an esthetician specializing in waxing, helping clients feel comfortable, confident, and cared for through education and meaningful connections. When Sydney isn’t supporting families or doulas, she enjoys spending time with her family, cuddling her two cats, and exploring the outdoors.
