2005: Yahoo group SCVandAVDoulas was formed by Yvonne Novak, Darla Burns, and some other local doulas. In-person meetings were held.
October 2007: Yvonne Novak and Darla Burns formally began “Doulas of Santa Clarita” yahoo group after a desire to have the term “Santa Clarita” incorporated for ease of search. In person meetings continued to be held…usually monthly.
In 2011 Yvonne moved to Pasadena, so Tiffany Gallo began co-hosting meetings with Darla. Tiffany would soon begin her journey to become a licensed midwife.
In 2013 Charter College reached out to Darla about having the local doulas come and speak with their LVN students about the benefits of doula support. This became a 4x per year opportunity to speak at this college.
July 2013: Doulas of SCV Facebook Group began to support local doulas and families in their search for birth and postpartum doulas. This group was later made Members Only and we created a Doulas of SCV Page on Facebook.
October 2013: Darla created the website DoulasofSCV.com where the local doulas, educators, and other perinatal professionals could be listed. Also established [email protected]. Any/all inquiries through the website or via email are forwarded to the group so everyone has an equal opportunity to interview for jobs.
June 2014: Cali Judson began co-leading Doulas of SCV meetings with Darla
January 2015: Cali and Darla began organizing the first Doula Speed Dating event.
March 28, 2015: The first Doula Speed Dating (later called Birth Baby Bonding Expo) took place at Spotlight Arts. We had several doulas and vendors participate and was a huge success!
January 2016: Cali and Darla legitimized Doulas of SCV by registering the business name, getting a tax ID number, opening a checking account, creating a Code of Conduct for our members, and starting a more formal agreement for our members. Members were required to pay membership dues to be listed on the website, attend the Birth Baby and Bonding Expo, be included in a Members Only Doulas of SCV group, and receive job leads. Those not wanting to pay the dues were still able to attend all doula meetings, were added to Birth Network of SCV FB group, and were still given ongoing support as needed/wanted.
March 2016: Birth Baby and Bonding Expo took place at Babies R Us with over 100 attendees and 16 vendors (including Henry Mayo!). Hugely successful and proceeds from the raffle benefited The Birth Foundation.
2017: Debra Osterkamp took on co-leadership duties with Darla and Cali
2020-2021: COVID made it very difficult for us to meet in person, but we continued to communicate through our members-only Facebook Group. Requests for doula support continued to pour in, despite the pandemic.
2021: Despite the ongoing pandemic, Doulas of SCV was able to support over 45 families in and around the Santa Clarita Valley. Cali Judson and Debra Osterkamp both took a more active and full-time role with the local birth center Pure Births (owned by Licensed Midwife, Tiffany Gallo) and have taken a step back from co-leading Doulas of SCV. The continue to offer support to local doulas when needed and forward all support requests to our Doulas of SCV Network.
2022: With Yvonne Novak back in the Santa Clarita Valley, she has agreed to co-Lead Doulas of SCV with Darla once again! We are supporting over 31 Members and Affiliate Members and have been holding great educational events for the doulas as well as the community. We are committed to growth and advancing the doula career!
Founders and Leadership through the years
Darla Burns CLD, CPD, CCCE, CLE, CHBE CAPPA Certified: Labor Doula, Postpartum Doula, Childbirth Educator, Lactation Educator OTHER: Happiest Baby on the Block Instructor, Infant Massage Instructor Postpartum Doula Trainer Number of years as a labor doula: 19 661.645.3726 [email protected] douladarla.com facebook.com/douladarla
Debra Osterkamp CLD, CPD, SBD CAPPA Certified: Labor and Postpartum Doula Stillbirthday Certified: Birth and Bereavement Doula Lactation Educator in Training (CAPPA) Number of years as a Labor Doula: 7 [email protected] (661) 964-8369 doula4thesoul.com facebook.com/doula4thesoul
Yvonne Novak Trained Labor Doula (Dona and CAPPA) Trained Childbirth Educator (AAHCC and CAPPA) Former Childbirth Educator Trainer (CAPPA) Former Breastfeeding Educator Trainer (CAPPA) Childbirth Education Classes [email protected] www.doulawithlove.com Facebook.com/doulawithlove 626.390.3555
Tiffany Adler Gallo, LM, CPM Licensed Midwife, Certified Professional Midwife Pure Births Pregnancy and Wellness 25880 TOURNAMENT RD.. SUITE 109 VALENCIA, CA 91355 661.670.8889 Purebirths.com Facebook