OUR DOULA MEMBERS

Sadie Hodswood is a mother of two, a full spectrum doula and an artist who lives and works within the ancestral and unceded traditional territory of the Hul’qumi’num and SENĆOŦEN speaking peoples.
She is a co-founder and Managing Director of the Birthing Families Foundation (BFF) which is a project she envisioned when she first became a doula, 9 years ago. At that time Sadie recognized that the birth world had many inequities and she felt compelled to make doula support available to all families, not just the privileged few.
Always keen to grow, in 2017 she traveled to Brooklyn NY, for 4 months, to take part in another doula training with Ancient Song Doula services, offered by leaders in reproductive and birth justice. This training was transformative and helped to anchor her dedication to advocate for families back at home.
Sadie is passionate about systems change and reproductive justice and she is driven to learn new ways to show up in this world. When not working with BFF, and of course parenting 24/7, you will find her getting creative in her studio or playing in nature.

SADIE HODSWOOD

PAMELA SHAKESPEARE

Allison has been on the board of the Birthing Families Foundation since March of 2021 in multiple board roles while holding the cross role as the Doula Program Director.
A birth doula since 1996, she has worked with thousands of birthing families in her private practice as well as with community based programs such as S.M.I.L.E., CBP, and YPP throughout her career. Allison continues to be passionate about supporting vulnerable families throughout their birthing journey. She also mentors other doulas across the island and in the Lower Mainland.
Allison is a mother of four and enjoys spending time with her grand-doggies, dying her hair multiple colours and wearing mismatched socks.

ALLISON RUNNALLS

Alana Ludington is a full spectrum doula and social worker living on the traditional territories of the Sinixt, the Syilx, and the Ktunaxa peoples. She finds big passion in supporting folks going through pregnancy, birth, postpartum, termination and loss. Reproductive justice, accessible service and inclusivity are the core values of her doula practice.
These root values led her to Birthing Families Foundation where she hopes to collaborate with this beautiful team, support BFF’s mission and deepen her learning about reproductive justice.

ALANA LUDINGTON

Renee was raised in a small community in North Western B.C. Her connection to community, land, seasons and cycles of life has always been a part of her reality.
She has been teaching a wide variety of community-based yoga classes and workshops since 2011 in Victoria B.C, and in 2014 she completed the DONA birth doula training. Renee is passionate about supporting families wherever they are at, without judgment or agenda. With all her work she focuses on finding adaptive solutions that ensure her body can maximize mobility, safety and comfort.

RENEE AHMADI

MADISON GREGGAINS

Madison is a full spectrum doula who was raised on Salt Spring Island and is grateful to still call it home. She completed her Holistic Doula Certificate at Pacific Rim College in 2014 where she not only gained skills and knowledge but a deep connection to her love for gathering over like minded topics especially around health and wellness and gratitude for another avenue of supportive community that fuels her to this day.
She has been a part of the Salt Spring Doula Collective since returning to the island in 2015 and is passionate about the emphasis on access to post postpartum care the collective has cultivated on an island that can at times be isolating and far from family.
Her personal core values of community, connection, well being and balance guide her in this work and make birth work and advocacy feel like a natural fit working with Birthing Families Foundation. In her free time you will find her travelling, skiing, practicing yoga and pilates, and walking her dog Theo

Pamela Shakespeare is a mother of two amazing children, a doula, bookkeeper and gardener living in the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island. She felt the call to birth work after experiencing two very different birth experiences with her children which led her to co-found the Birthing Families Foundation where she has served as the Administrative Director for the past 5 years. She oversees all administrative functions and plays a key role in ensuring the smooth operation of the organization.
With a passion for supporting birthing families and promoting maternal and infant health she is committed to advancing the goals of BFF to provide support, resources and education to families during the perinatal period. She works with the board of directors, staff, volunteers and community partners to develop and implement programs that meet the needs of expectant and new parents. By focusing on grant writing and relationship building, Pamela has been able to help secure funds for BFF’s ongoing sustainability and put those funds to good use serving families with quality doula care that all families deserve.
Prior to joining the Birthing Families Foundation Pamela completed a BA degree in Global Studies from the Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo which inspired her to pursue systems level changes that have a positive impact on the health and wellbeing of society and the planet.
When she is not working for the Birthing Families Foundation or bookkeeping for other companies, Pamela can be found in her garden, spending time with her children, playing in nature or surfing.

SHARYN CARROLL

Sharyn has stepped into the role of co-chair and is very excited to support families living on Indigenous lands in and around the Salish Sea and beyond.
Sharyn is a proud community organiser and supporter.
She continues to educate herself on trauma-informed practice and how it intersects with brown and black bodies. She is a mother, sister, friend, feminist, and a strong advocate for all female-identified humans. Her passion for birthing began in the mid 90’s when she first became a doula. In 2005 she went to study Midwifery in Texas at Maternidad La Luz.
You can always find her in her garden or on a trail with her dog close by.

SHARYN CARROLL

Sharyn has stepped into the role of co-chair and is very excited to support families living on Indigenous lands in and around the Salish Sea and beyond.
Sharyn is a proud community organiser and supporter.
She continues to educate herself on trauma-informed practice and how it intersects with brown and black bodies. She is a mother, sister, friend, feminist, and a strong advocate for all female-identified humans. Her passion for birthing began in the mid 90’s when she first became a doula. In 2005 she went to study Midwifery in Texas at Maternidad La Luz.
You can always find her in her garden or on a trail with her dog close by.

ASHLEY JARDINE

BRITTANY MICHAUD

Ashley is a full-spectrum birth worker, freelance writer, yoga teacher, and parent of two young kiddos. She felt the calling to birthwork after a traumatic first birth and untethered postpartum, and took her postpartum doula training with Birdsong in New York. Fast-forward to her second birth just 19 months later and she was met with a host of health problems that left her hospitalized for 6 weeks. It was then (while hooked up to a chest tube) that she felt called to move her practice full-spectrum, offering support to folks at all stages of their reproductive journey since curveballs rarely follow a timeline.
As a cis-hetero white woman living uninvited on the ancestral lands of the Coast Salish Peoples, she firmly believes in using her privilege to redistribute wealth and bring safe community support to folks who need it—and that means taking care of community support workers in these communities too.

ASHLEY JARDINE

Ashley is a full-spectrum birth worker, freelance writer, yoga teacher, and parent of two young kiddos. She felt the calling to birthwork after a traumatic first birth and untethered postpartum, and took her postpartum doula training with Birdsong in New York. Fast-forward to her second birth just 19 months later and she was met with a host of health problems that left her hospitalized for 6 weeks. It was then (while hooked up to a chest tube) that she felt called to move her practice full-spectrum, offering support to folks at all stages of their reproductive journey since curveballs rarely follow a timeline.
As a cis-hetero white woman living uninvited on the ancestral lands of the Coast Salish Peoples, she firmly believes in using her privilege to redistribute wealth and bring safe community support to folks who need it—and that means taking care of community support workers in these communities too.

Brittany serves as a holistic birth and postpartum doula and supporting families through loss. After my own pregnancy loss in 2021, it propelled me into the world of birthwork and desire to serve families through this incredibly transformational, vulnerable and sometimes scary journey in their lives of welcoming their babies earthside.
Brittany’s intention at Birthing Families Foundation is to truly immerse herself in community care, begin to change the way that birthwork is viewed and the way that we serve our communities.
When not immersed in birthwork, you can find her near any form of water and recently, mothering her daughter born in Spring 2024.

BRITTANY MICHAUD

Brittany serves as a holistic birth and postpartum doula and supporting families through loss. After my own pregnancy loss in 2021, it propelled me into the world of birthwork and desire to serve families through this incredibly transformational, vulnerable and sometimes scary journey in their lives of welcoming their babies earthside.
Brittany’s intention at Birthing Families Foundation is to truly immerse herself in community care, begin to change the way that birthwork is viewed and the way that we serve our communities.
When not immersed in birthwork, you can find her near any form of water and recently, mothering her daughter born in Spring 2024.