Meet the doula

Mara-Diana McCollum

I am passionate about supporting new moms as I know personally how challenging and rewarding childbirth and postpartum can be. I have three rambunctious sons and two little ones lost to miscarriages. Each of my births were unique and came with its own challenges.

My journey with childbirth actually began when I saw my sister-in-law birth my nephew when I was only 14 years old. A year later I was able to be by my sister's side when she birthed a baby boy. As a university student, I took a medical ethics class that allowed me to go on medical rotations in the local hospital. I was able to observe a number of births although all from the doctor's point of view. I would enter a room with a group of other students or residents to watch women give birth. Then I would put on scrubs and the doctors showed me in detail how they performed cesareans.

At that point, I honestly didn't know midwives existed in America and that out of hospital birth was even possible (or safe). I began reading a lot of research and books that challenged my birth worldview. I started my DONA doula training in 2011, began attending births in 2012, and finished my certification in 2013. In 2015 I became a Hypnobabies Childbirth Education instructor as well as a Hypno-Doula, but as of 2020, I’m no longer teaching and instead, focused on attending births.

I have experience working as a birth doula for single moms, teenage moms, older moms, VBAC births, cesarean births, IVF births, inductions, in hospital, and out of hospital births. I was also blessed to volunteer teaching childbirth education to pregnant refugees in San Diego where I lived prior to moving to NJ.