Sandra Levick - Vice President

P: 0414 609 170
E: transitionalfreedom1@outlook.com
W: www.facebook.com/BecomingMumBirthingRipples

Jo Askham- Treasurer

Jo was drawn to independent midwifery after decades of supporting families as a doula and walking alongside women through pregnancy and birth. She is the mother of three children whose arrivals shaped her own journey, beginning with a hospital birth and followed by two planned home births. These experiences, along with witnessing many highly managed pregnancies and births, led Jo to search for a different approach that honours physiology, autonomy and informed choice.

Her passion lies in supporting women and families to achieve optimal birth experiences through knowledge, trust in the body and strong support networks. Jo believes that when women feel physically, emotionally and spiritually supported, birth can be a deeply fulfilling experience regardless of the outcome.

A doula since 2002 and a midwife since 2024, Jo has supported births in a wide range of settings. She works closely with families, valuing connection, intuition and individualised care, and also organises birth events, workshops and community support circles.

E: jo@birthattendants.info
W: www.jothemidwife.com.au

Virginia Maddock - Badges

Virginia is a wife to a Kiwi and a mother to two home-born boys, along with two rescue cats and three much-loved chooks who keep life lively at home.

With more than 20 years of experience supporting families, Virginia has dedicated her career to nurturing women and their partners through pregnancy, birth and the postpartum period. She works as a doula, natural therapist and holistic bodyworker, offering gentle, supportive care that honours the body’s innate wisdom during the transition into parenthood.

Through her business, Natural Beginnings, Virginia also provides birth photography and placenta encapsulation, allowing families to both preserve the memories of birth and support their recovery in the early postpartum weeks. Her work is grounded in respect, experience and a deep belief in the strength and capability of women during birth.

Virginia brings warmth, knowledge and a calm presence to every family she supports, helping parents feel informed, held and confident as they welcome their babies into the world.

P: 0415 683 074
E: virginia@naturalbeginings.com.au
W: www.naturalbeginnings.com.au

Kelly Allen - Newsletter

Kelly is a doula based on Sydney’s North Shore and a mother of three children, two grown-up and one still in primary school. Having navigated the many stages of parenthood herself, she understands both the challenges and the joys that come with welcoming and raising children. As she often says, she has made it through the early years not only surviving but mostly thriving.

Kelly brings a calm presence, lived experience and a deeply non-judgmental approach to the families she supports through pregnancy, birth and the fourth trimester. Her work is grounded in listening, reassurance and helping parents feel confident in their own instincts.

Before becoming a doula, Kelly built a diverse career across marketing, counselling and business writing. She has worked in both corporate environments and alongside vulnerable communities, experiences that have shaped her thoughtful and compassionate perspective.

After completing her training with the Doula Training Academy in 2025, Kelly now supports families with warmth, intuition and practical care, always with a cup of tea nearby.

P: 0450 645 532
E: kelly@northshoredoula.com.au
W: North Shore Doula

Philippa Scott - Newsletter

Philippa is a mother of four daughters and a passionate advocate for improving birth experiences and consumer rights in maternity care. Her journey into birth advocacy began in 2003 after facing challenges with fragmented care and limited information during her own early births. This experience inspired her to help ensure other families have access to better support and knowledge.

Philippa trained as a doula and founded Friends of the Birth Centre Townsville (FBCT). As president until 2011, she played a key role in advocating for and helping establish the Townsville Birth Centre, which opened in 2008 within Townsville Hospital.

Philippa has also served on consumer boards, created media projects and facilitated free community support groups. She later chose homebirth for her final two daughters, and witnessing her granddaughter’s recent home birth further strengthened her commitment to birth advocacy.

Today, Philippa continues this work through mentoring doulas, supporting birth centre improvements, contributing to the Homebirth Conference and serving as Treasurer for Home Birth QLD.
 
E: philippa@fantasticfuture.com.au  
W: www.fantasticfuture.com.au   

Caroline Knight 
 

Caroline has always been fascinated by birth. As a child she loved hearing stories from her mother, a midwife, often asking about the births she had attended and reading through her midwifery textbooks to learn more. Although she didn’t initially follow the same path, Caroline spent more than 20 years working in advertising, public relations and digital media. During that time she lived in the United Kingdom for a decade and travelled extensively throughout Europe and Africa.

After the birth of her three sons, an unplanned caesarean followed by two VBACs, Caroline felt drawn back to her long-standing interest in birth and supporting families.

She completed her training with the Australian Doula College in 2021 and has since undertaken further study in Optimal Maternal Positioning and Spinning Babies. Caroline now works as a birth and postpartum doula across Sydney, supporting families in hospital, birth centre and homebirth settings.

Alongside her doula work, Caroline is the Doula Coordinator for She Births and also contributes to The Groundwork Program.

E: caroline.knight@gmail.com  
Insta:  @your_birth_story

Natalie Meade

Natalie has supported families through pregnancy and birth for more than 14 years as a private birth educator, birth doula and birth counsellor. Over this time she has worked with many families, offering guidance, reassurance and practical support as they prepare for birth and early parenthood.

She also runs the community project Newcastle Birth Movement, a space where birth workers connect, learn and support one another. Natalie is especially passionate about welcoming and mentoring new doulas, helping them navigate the realities of the profession and build sustainable careers in birth work.

With many years of experience and a few grey hairs earned along the way, Natalie affectionately refers to herself as “Grand-Doula-Nat.” Known for her humour and creativity, she even coined the playful term “pane-azing,” her way of describing the powerful and remarkable experience of childbirth.

Natalie holds postgraduate qualifications in counselling, psychology and education, along with a science honours degree, bringing both professional knowledge and deep lived experience to her work.

E: natalie.meade@hotmail.com  
W: www.hunterbirtheducationcentre.com

Grace Bartlett

I’m the proud mum of two beautiful children, and like many doulas, it was my own birth experiences that led me into this work. Supporting families during such a transformative time felt like a natural calling, and it continues to be deeply meaningful to me.

For the past five years, I’ve supported mothers as a birth and postpartum doula, walking alongside them through pregnancy, birth and those early weeks with a new baby. I’m also a qualified Lactation Counsellor and hold a Bachelor of Social Research and Policy, which informs my evidence-based, compassionate approach to care.

I feel incredibly privileged to witness families step into parenthood and am passionate about ensuring they feel supported, informed and nurtured every step of the way.

I’m truly honoured to now support fellow doulas through the DNA as we continue this important and life-changing work for the families we care for.

E: 
W: www.atyoursidedoulaservices.com

Aleesha Simon

Hi, I’m Aleesha, a birth and postpartum doula and proud boy mum of three, based on the Central Coast of NSW. I support families from the Upper North Shore through to Newcastle, walking alongside them through pregnancy, birth and the early postpartum period.

Motherhood opened my eyes to just how overwhelming the maternity system can feel, especially when you’re navigating big decisions while exhausted, hormonal and not always feeling heard. That experience shaped the way I now support others.

Through Te Whānau Doula, I help families feel confident, informed and genuinely supported in their choices. I believe everyone deserves someone in their corner who can help make sense of the system, ask the important questions and remind them of their own inner knowing.

As a committee member with Doula Network Australia, I’m passionate about advocating for families and strengthening the doula community, because when doulas are supported, families benefit too.

E: 
W: www.tewhanaudoula.com

Maddy Bartlett - Webinars

Maddy is a birth doula on a mission to make joyful births the norm across Sydney’s eastern suburbs and surrounds. Blending certified, evidence-based support with calm guidance (and just the right amount of hype), she helps women and birthing people feel prepared, confident, and excited for their birth experience.

Before stepping into birth work, she spent over a decade in finance and social impact organisations supporting women and gender-diverse people to make informed, values-aligned decisions. That same trust-first ethos underpins her approach in the birth space, where she brings both skill and grounded support to the families she works with.

After training with Doula Training Academy in 2025, Maddy now supports families through Maddy Joy Doula and also contributes to the Doula Network Australia committee, organising monthly webinars that provide high-quality education and professional development for doulas.

 
W: www.tewhanaudoula.com