Meet Our Committee
Our Committee is made up of both experienced and new doulas to ensure we have balanced representation of our members.
They are elected at our Annual General Meeting each year. Our Committee members generously donate their time and talents to serve the association.
Please meet our current Committee members below.
Samantha Gunn - President
Qualifying as a doula in 2017, Samantha is now a birth & postnatal doula and Hypnobirthing Australia™ educator based on Sydney's North Shore. She left her career as an accountant when she started her family and it's her own experience of having doula support at all of her births that drew her to become one today.
Samantha has a love for learning, she is a certified hypnotherapist and also holds qualifications in acupressure, baby massage, aromatherapy and optimal maternal positioning techniques.
Samantha has a strong belief that supporting new families well provides a positive foundation for family life, and that is what drives her work with her clients and her volunteering with the Association - better supported doulas can support their clients better!
P: 0409 161262
Sandra Mulligan - Vice President
Sandra is proud Mum to an adult son. After several years supporting families as an ad hoc nanny, she became a doula in 2016.
Her passion & desire is to support the rite of passage of birth, focussing on post partum care with the newborn family in their fourth trimester.
She attained her Cert IV in Doula Services in 2016 with the ADC. She also has a Bachelor of Adult Education, (Human Resources & Communication) and a Post Graduate degree in TESOL.
Sandra has studied Global Rites of Passage Leadership training in 2015, Spinning Babies 2017, Celebration of Birth post partum training 2018, DONA International post partum care 2018, Level 1 yoga teacher training at Swami Sarasvati 2018. She has a wide focus of training in spiritual and healing modalities, beginning with Reiki l & II in 1996.
P: 0414 609 170
E: [email protected]
W: www.facebook.com/BecomingMumBirthingRipples
Jo Askham- Treasurer
Jo moonlights in the day as a student, website concocter; administrative assistant to Rhea Dempsey; and ‘doulas' a broad range of events such as prenatal yoga, family communal camps, workshops, support circles, conferences and international events.
Jo is a Mother to three babies of her own whose arrivals took a journey through a hospital birth to two planned home births sparking her passion to bring humanity and knowledge to childbirth.
She has been helping families as a doula and childbirth educator for over 20 years and is currently studying for her Bachelor of Midwifery at the Australian Catholic University in Melbourne.
“My passion is to bring community to life and birth through support, events, knowledge and advocacy.”
P: 0409 955 779
E: [email protected]
W: www.jo.birthattendants.info
Virginia Maddock - Badges
Virginia is wife to a kiwi, and mother to two home-born boys, 2 rescue cats and 4 silkie chooks.
Virginia has been a doula for over 15 years. She works as a natural therapist, holistic bodyworker, birth photographer and placenta encapsulator for her business: Natural Beginnings.
Virginia also teaches men how to be great birth support partners at Beer + Bubs - childbirth education for dads.
P: 0415 683 074
E: [email protected]
W: www.naturalbeginnings.com.au
Cathe Ross - Wednesday Shares and Instagram
Cathe is a Mother of 2 adult children and soon to be Grandmother.
Cathe has been working with children, their families and other childcare professionals in roles as Director of OSHC and many different Children’s services’ over the past 30 years.
She has recently completed her Postpartum Doula course with Sunderai at Dial a Doula in the beautiful Autumn retreat.
Her qualifications also include an Advanced Diploma in Children’s Services.
Cathe is passionate about supporting women and their choice in birth and postpartum care.
P: 0403151941
E: [email protected]
W: Nurturing the Nurturer
Philippa Scott - Newsletter
Philippa, a mother of four daughters, isn't just passionate about consumer rights – she's a driving force for better birthing experiences. A personal turning point in 2003, after her first births challenges due to fragmented care and limited information, ignited her activism.
Fueled by her desire to empower others, Philippa trained first as a Doula in 2003 and launched "Friends of the Birth Centre Townsville" (FBCT) in the same year. Her dedication as president until 2011 culminated in the successful opening of the Townsville Birth Centre in 2008, a 3-room facility within the Townsville Hospital.
Beyond leading FBCT, Philippa actively participated in consumer and citizen boards, created media projects, and facilitated free support groups. She embraced homebirths for last two daughters. Witnessing her granddaughter's recent home birth solidified her mission, driven by the desire for better birthing experiences, not just for her daughters but for all.
Philippa's advocacy continues to flourish. She champions improvements at the Sunshine Coast University Hospital birth centre, contributes to the annual Homebirth conference (2024 & 2025), and serves as Treasurer for Home Birth QLD since 2023 alongside her role as Newsletter writer for DNA. Through "Fantastic Futures," she is a Transformative birth and parenting coach and empowers parents to heal from birth and perinatal trauma, rewriting the unconscious scripts they pass on. Philippa has a passion for mentoring Doula's and has been actively doing so since 2006.
Dip CBEd (CBI), CBD (CBI)
P:0423385059
Alice Worthy - Junior Committee Member
Alice became certified as a birth & postpartum doula in 2022 after the positive hospital birth of her first daughter. It was through her first experience of pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum that she become privvy to realising all the support we need as women as we go through one of life's biggest transitions (and what we actually get). It was this experience that ignited Alice's passion to support women and their partners, especially those who had no idea doula's even existed. Her aim is to bring ancient practices of pregnancy, birth & postpartum support to modern women, especially those birthing in the system.
As part of her business "The Modern Doula", Alice runs masterclasses, group education sessions, mentoring for other doula's and full spectrum doula support.
In addition to being a full-time doula on the Central Coast, Alice also works full time in radio marketing and is a mother to two gorgeous girls and has a soft spot for a glass of bubbles, board games and soft cheeses.
P: 0431422165
W: http://www.themoderndoula.co/
Natalie Meade - Junior Committee Member
Natalie has supported births for over 14 years as a private birth educator, birth doula and birth counsellor. She runs the community project, Newcastle Birth Movement, where she loves to meet and greet new doulas and help them stay in their profession, successfully, through the ups and downs! With a few grey hairs and many years of wisdom, she has recently started to refer to herself as "Grand-Doula-Nat"!! lol (she likes to invent new, birthie terms and also coined the phrase "pane-azing" - Def: Childbirth pain that is amazing.
GradDipC, GradDipPsyc, GradDipEd, BSc (Hons), CCB, CH
Caroline Knight - Junior Committee Member
Caroline has always been fascinated by birth. Growing up she would ask her midwife Mother to tell her about births she’d attended - and read her Mum’s midwifery textbooks to learn more. But instead of becoming a midwife herself she took a path into advertising, PR and digital media for over 20 years. She lived in the UK for ten years and travelled extensively in Europe and Africa.
After having her three sons (an unplanned caesarean followed by two vbacs) she decided the time was right to follow her deep interest in supporting families to experience birth as a positive and wonderful thing.
She studied with the Australian Doula College in 2021 and has also undertaken further study in Optimal Maternal Positioning and Spinning Babies. Caroline works as a birth and postpartum doula throughout Sydney, supporting families of all shapes and sizes - whether they’re giving birth in a hospital, birth centre or at home.
As well as her work as a doula, Caroline is the Doula Coordinator for She Births. She also participates in The Groundwork Program - a family focused service supporting vulnerable families with often complex needs - working for agencies such as child protection services and NDIS.
P: 0414 018 258
Insta: @your_birth_story
THANK YOU TO OUR PREVIOUS COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
We would like to recognise and thank the following people for their service on the Committee in the past:
- Dr Aimee Sing
- Claire Wyborn
- Kelly Bardon
- Donna Berent
- Nicola Kinnane
- Aimee Taaffe
- Krista Mccrimmon
- Christa Buckland, President, 2014-19
- Danera Wilkinson
- Vicki Hobbs
- Ellen Croucher, Secretary,
- Julia MacLeod, Vice-President
- Nimity Keon, Co-Founder & Vice-President
- Erika Elliott
- Jerusha Sutton
- Lucretia McCarthy, Secretary
- Narelle Horwitz
- Lynda Taylor, Treasurer
- Briony Goodsell, Secretary
Christa Buckland - Co-Founder
Christa has been a doula and childbirth educator since 2010. She has also completed studies in hypnobirthing, postnatal support and placenta encapsulation.
Christa has a Bachelor of Health Science (Health Promotion) from Western Sydney University and is currently embarking upon postgraduate research studies.
Christa co-founded Doula Network Australia Inc. in 2011 with Nimity Keon and is passionate about networking and mentoring.
P: 0422 229 312
E: [email protected]
W: www.christabucklanddoula.com
State Representatives
Our State Representatives are an extra point of contact to ensure all members can be assisted with their enquiries in a timely manner. Please contact your State Representative if you need help.
NSW & ACT
Name: Virginia Maddock
Phone: 0415 683 074
Email: [email protected]
QLD & NT
Name: Chey Fletcher
Phone: 0406 079 002
Email: [email protected]
TAS
Name: Krista McCrimmon
Phone: 0438 272 404
Email: [email protected]
VIC
Name: Laura Lee Berlingieri
Phone: 0477 283 202
Email: [email protected]
WA
Name: Vicki Hobbs
Phone: (08) 9303 9111
Email: [email protected]
Would you like to Volunteer for DNA?
We love building our committee to build DNA and provide more support and continue the growth of our community.
If you'd like to know more Information or want know more about the current volunteer roles or about how to support or donate to Doula Network Australia Inc. contact us today:
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