Hi, I’m Johanna
I'm a birth doula, perinatal educator, mom, and lifelong learner based in Central Oregon. I created Starlight Birth Services because I believe every family deserves to enter pregnancy, birth, and postpartum feeling informed, respected, and supported—whatever their journey looks like.
My approach to birth work is warm, curious, and judgment-free. I love helping families understand their options, ask questions, find what feels right for them, and feel more confident navigating a season of life that can be beautiful, overwhelming, unpredictable, and sometimes all of those things at once.
Starlight is a reflection of both my personal experiences and the work I hope to do throughout my career: creating better, more compassionate support for parents and families.
Holding space for every birth, every body, every journey.
My Story
I have been fascinated by pregnancy and birth for as long as I can remember.
As a little girl, I listened intently to the birth stories of the women in my family. My mom told me about her quick, unmedicated births. My grandma told me about giving birth during a time when fathers weren't allowed in the room—when she was restrained and put under anesthesia during more than one of her births—and about the birth where she and my mom nearly died.
I was fascinated by the biology of it all, but also by the way people were treated while giving birth. Even as a child, I remember thinking there had to be better options.
As I grew up, two things remained constant: I absorbed anything I could find about pregnancy and birth, and I felt a deep need to help people. Healthcare seemed like the obvious place for those parts of me, so for years I explored nursing and other healthcare paths. But nothing ever felt quite right.
Then I became a mother.
I dove even deeper into pregnancy and birth, and eventually having a home birth with a midwife opened my eyes to an entirely different side of birth work. I explored L&D nursing, midwifery, and other possibilities, searching for the place where my fascination with birth, comfort within healthcare, curiosity, and desire to care for people could exist together.
Then I discovered birth doulas.
For the first time, I found a role that brought those pieces together. I could educate, nurture, advocate, and help families navigate their options without being the person providing their medical care. And when I saw how doulas could build practices around their own passions and the unique needs of their communities, something clicked.
I realized I could create the kind of space I had always been searching for: one grounded in education, compassion, autonomy, curiosity, and respect.
And so, Starlight Birth Services was born.
My Philosophy
I don't believe there is one right way to give birth.
Birth is deeply personal, and every person comes into it with a different body, history, family, culture, set of needs, and idea of what a positive experience looks like. What feels empowering to one person may feel completely wrong for another—and that's okay.
My role as a doula isn't to tell you how you should give birth. It's to help you understand your options, find reliable information, ask questions, and make decisions that feel right for you.
I believe informed consent and bodily autonomy belong at the center of birth care. You deserve to understand what is happening to your body, why something is being recommended, what your options are, and to be an active participant in the decisions being made about your care.
I also believe there is room for both evidence and intuition. Birth can be physiological and medical. It can be powerful and vulnerable, carefully planned and completely unpredictable. Sometimes the plan changes—and a supported birth isn't defined by whether everything happened exactly as you imagined.
My goal is for you to look back on your experience knowing that you were heard, respected, informed, and cared for.
There is no perfect birth. There is your birth.
And I will hold space for every birth, every body, every journey.
My Births
My own journey through pregnancy and birth has taught me perhaps more than anything else that no two journeys look the same.
Before becoming a mother, I experienced an early miscarriage after nearly a year of trying to conceive. It was my first experience with how quickly pregnancy can hold both incredible joy and profound loss—and how deeply the words of healthcare providers can matter during vulnerable moments.
Soon afterward, I became pregnant with my daughter, Isla. When she continued measuring small near the end of pregnancy, my doctor recommended an induction. I hoped to give birth without pain medication and was able to do so. After several induction methods, my water broke, labor began, and twenty minutes of pushing later, Isla was born.
My experience with my son, Josiah, looked completely different. I chose a home birth because I wanted the freedom and comfort of my own space. Just after midnight, he was born in a birth pool in my bedroom. Afterward, I climbed into my own bed with my newborn, comfortable and content. It simply felt right.
Years later, I experienced pregnancy and birth from another perspective when I became a surrogate and carried twins. A high-risk twin pregnancy required more monitoring, different safety considerations, and accepting that birth might look very different from my previous experiences.
At exactly 36 weeks, my water broke accompanied by significant bleeding. I knew immediately that we needed to get to the hospital. I had experienced a placental abruption, and within an hour the twins were delivered by emergency cesarean.
All three of us came through safely.
Together, these experiences have shaped the way I understand birth. I've experienced the beauty of physiologic birth at home and the incredible capability of modern obstetric medicine when it was truly needed. I've learned that autonomy and safety don't have to exist in opposition—and that a positive birth experience isn't defined by where you give birth, whether you use medication, or whether everything goes according to plan.
Sometimes trusting birth means trusting your body.
Sometimes it means trusting the medical team standing beside you.
And sometimes, it's both.
Why I Am a Doula
Birth is one of those experiences that can stay with you for the rest of your life.
The details may fade, but the way you felt—the way you were spoken to, whether you felt safe, whether you understood what was happening, whether you felt like you had a voice in the room—can stay with you for years.
That's why I am a doula.
I want families to have someone beside them who has the time to slow things down. Someone who can help make unfamiliar language a little less intimidating, remind them of the questions they wanted to ask, help them explore their options, and create space for them to make their own decisions.
I want to be there for the practical things, too. The hip squeezes and position changes. The water refills and cold washcloths. The quiet reassurance at 2 a.m. The partner who needs someone to tell them, “You're doing exactly what they need right now.” The moments when plans change and everyone needs a second to regroup.
But more than anything, I want the people I support to know that they matter in their own birth experience.
I can't promise someone a particular kind of birth. Birth is far too unpredictable for that. What I can do is show up with knowledge, curiosity, compassion, and respect—and stay beside you as your journey unfolds.
Sometimes support doesn't mean changing what happens.
Sometimes it means making sure you don't have to navigate it alone.
Training, Credentials & Education
Birth work is a field where there is always more to learn. My education began with comprehensive birth doula training and continues through advanced education in childbirth, lactation, reproductive health, and family support.
I intentionally choose continuing education that expands and deepens my skills rather than simply repeating foundational training.
Professional Training
Professional Birth Doula Training
Doula Love — DONA International Approved Birth Doula Training
My professional training has also included education in trauma-informed care, cultural responsiveness, infant feeding and lactation support, comfort measures, and inclusive, client-centered birth support. I continue to pursue advanced training in areas that deepen the support I can offer families.
Credentials & Certifications
Oregon State Certified Birth Doula / Traditional Health Worker (THW)
Oregon Health Authority
BLS/CPR Certified
Adult, Child & Infant
Education
AAOT Public Health — In Progress
Central Oregon Community College
My academic path is focused on public health, with a growing emphasis on maternal and infant health, lactation, and the systems that shape families' experiences of pregnancy, birth, and postpartum.