Where your needs are met, not questioned.
You’re empowered to make your own choices, not just told what to do.
Your primary feelings about birth are trust and confidence, not fear or dread.
Your decisions are informed by science, not guilt, shame, or the opinions of others.
Your support system is built with care, and they have your back when you need them most.
Imagine ~
a world in which safe, respectful, and empowered birth experiences are the norm, not the exception.
And you feel seen, supported, and celebrated the whole way through.
This course is for you.
And our daughters, too.
We combine our professional expertise and personal experience to bring you the knowledge and support we believe all birthing people deserve.
OUR MISSION:
To create meaningful change in the perinatal health landscape.
By bringing you accessible, inclusive, evidence-based courses.
Taking you one (big) step closer to the pregnancy, birth, and postpartum experience you deserve.
Allow us to introduce ourselves.
Allow us to introduce ourselves.
Meet Elizabeth (she/her)
Elizabeth is a passionate educator and creative force behind Wildwood Birth.
She co-founded and helps run two birth-centered companies while raising her toddler, watering her plants, adventuring with her husband, walking her dog, and cleaning her house (except for her own office).
Elizabeth is passionate about supporting people with marginalized identities and trauma histories in the birth space. She has a BA in Latin American Studies, studied International Affairs in graduate school, and is a professional photographer. She’s been working with families as a doula and childbirth educator since 2018.
Meet Vera (she/her)
Witnessing the birth of her first niece was a life changing experience for Vera, and it inspired her to dedicate her career to supporting families as they move through this rite of passage.
Since then, she has supported birth in a log cabin, the OR, and everywhere in between. She’s driven by the conviction that what happens in the birth room impacts not only that family, but the whole world.
Vera’s favorite way to decompress after supporting a birth is hiking the luscious trails around Portland with her dog Indi. Vera was trained and certified through Birthingway College of Midwifery and ICEA, and has additional certifications with DONA and Cornerstone Doula Trainings. She serves as secretary to the board of the Oregon Doula Association.
Meet Jacqueline (she/her)
Jacqueline has two kids who she birthed in under two years—in two different countries outside the U.S.. She shares her hard-earned wisdom of how to prepare for the many big and small decisions that parenthood requires us to make.
Before becoming a parent, she spent six years at a Fortune 500 Medical Technology company. Her own birth experiences re-awakened a passion to support people during this most intimate and life changing time to have safe and positive birth and postpartum experiences.
When she’s not behind her computer, Jacqueline spends time with her husband and kids, exploring the beautiful PNW, perusing outdoor markets, and traveling the world (especially home to Germany, where she was born).
“I love this team. They all offer their unique areas of expertise, but their chemistry and unity came across seamlessly. I feel like I might hear their voices in my head as I go through labor - cheering me on, grounding me, supporting me.”
— Susan B.
Wildwood Birth:
Our Origin Story
After long paths through academia and corporate jobs, Elizabeth and Vera found their true calling in supporting people through the wilds of childbirth as doulas. They met in a continuing education workshop, and formed an immediate connection. During their first meeting over phở and tea, they quickly realized their doula partnership was written in the stars. They shared a vision and set of convictions about the rights of all to an empowered, safe, and informed birth experience. Together they founded the Wildwood Birth Collective — one of Portland, Oregon’s largest doula groups, which supports hundreds of families a year.
Their desire to have an impact beyond Portland — and the pandemic making it clear there was a need for easily-accessible, high quality childbirth education — led them to create Wildwood Birth Education. They brought Jacqueline on board as a business partner early in the development phase, and never looked back.
Meet our esteemed contributors
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Rach Junard (she/they)
Rach is a full spectrum doula; a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion strategist; and an experienced facilitator and educator. You’ll have the opportunity to learn from Rach in their section on bias in the birth space.
Rach is based in Portland, Oregon and you can learn more about them and follow their work at rachdoesyoga.com.
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Emily Light (she/her)
Emily is a yoga therapist who specializes in pelvic health and perinatal yoga. Emily will guide you through several videos in which you’ll practice breathing and postures to prepare for and recover from birth.
Emily is based in Portland, Oregon and you can learn more about her and follow her work at emilylightyoga.com.
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Zoë Berliner (she/her)
Zoë is a international board certified lactation consultant (IBCLC) and a postpartum doula. She has spent over 15 years supporting growing families, and will guide you through the basics of nursing your baby.
Zoë is based in Portland, Oregon and you can learn more about her and follow her work at portlandbirthworks.com.
What’s on YOUR birth playlist?
CHECK OUT OUR TOP FIVE
Vera
Opening - Essie Jai
Arabesques 2 - Debussy
Path 5 Delta - Max Richter
Please Prepare Me - Beautiful Chorus
You and I are Falling, You and I are Free - Rising Appalachia
Elizabeth
Chapel on Pine Mountain -
The Other Years
Jonathan - Adrianne Lenker, Buck Meek
While You Were Sleeping - Elvis Perkins
When We’re Older - James Blake (cover)
El Bueno Y El Malo - Hermanos Gutierrez
Jacqueline
Coaster - Khalid
My Sunrise - Ruti
Wild Dreams - Burna Boy
Light On - Maggie Rogers
Stay with Me - T-Pain (cover)
The Nearness of You - Nora Jones
WE’RE HERE FOR YOU