Meet Abra
Birth and Postpartum Doula, Lactation Educator, Multiples specialist, & Licensed Midwife
Abra brings the kind of relaxed energy that is so welcoming in the chaotic time of newborn life. She is highly experienced in supporting families in the birthing and postpartum process, and is a gem to have on your support team no matter what role she plays. Not only is she a licensed midwife, she is also a lactation educator and a multiples specialist. You will find Abra a very calming presence; warm, accepting and the definition of non-judgemental. She’s quite adept at assessing needs and is an expert multitasker, often seeing things parents need before they have to ask. Welcoming her first baby in her 40’s has given new meaning to the role of wise woman in her life and career as well, which makes her even more relatable and easy to connect with.
More About Abra
We met Abra in the early pandemic when she attended the CAPPA Lactation Educator course and confessed she was moving to Portland later that year. We were so excited to welcome her to our team with her broad experience, calming and gentle nature, and her easy-going approaches to helping parents. Already with a decade of experience as a postpartum doula, she also expanded her expertise in midwifery school and becoming a licensed midwife in 2010. Even in her midwifery practice, the focus remained on the postpartum period, serving at a birth center in Oceanside, CA.
Becoming a mother was a transformative experience for her, having an incredible home birth and a nurturing postpartum experience with her husband’s support for the first precious month. Watching her husband’s dedication to her postpartum care fueled her desire to further excel as a postpartum doula.
Her passion for lactation support was also bolstered while encountering several breastfeeding challenges, as she also gained profound insights beyond her previous lactation education and midwifery training. She expanded her knowledge in milk production, various pump systems, resolving clogged ducts, optimal positioning, triple feeding, supplemental nursing systems, combination feeding, formula feeding, and more. Abra is committed to providing her clients with that same nurturing care, armed with new advocacy, especially for nursing parents.
Abra now is also happy to share her wisdom in supporting cloth diapering, elimination communication, thoroughly researched safe diaper and wipe ingredients if clients have questions about products and approaches. She enjoys helping to set up the nursery, teaching baby-wearing options, and loves to engage in product testing to better support clients who have a million decisions to make every day.
Outside of her work, Abra adores her time with her little one--after a lifelong dream of finding the right partner and raising a family. Originally from Colorado, her journey led her to San Diego for midwifery school, but her heart yearned for the mountains, eventually guiding her to Portland, and to us! Abra is an adventurer and you can find her skiing, camping, swimming, hiking, and traveling frequently.
Since moving to PDX she has supported dozens of ABC Doula clients, including several sets of twins, and then became a new mama herself! After her parental leave, Abra decided overnights were best to continue to be able to care for her son and share the parenting duties at night with her partner.
As a postpartum doula Abra strives for a comforting environment while protecting the vulnerability that new parenting brings. Her training as a midwife brings in the wisdom of giving parents space to grow and find an inner intuition, while she also brings an easy-going positivity and fun humor to her client families. Abra is happy to support each family's unique needs, and she thrives on connecting with new families during the precious postpartum period of life.