Amara Minnis, CD (DONA) Doula

I am a DONA certified birth and postpartum doula providing support to women and their families in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, including Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, and sometimes Suffolk, Hampton, and Newport News. My goal is to inform my clients of their options for childbirth and to provide physical, emotional and informational support during the last trimester of pregnancy, labor, birth and the postpartum period. I consider it my utmost responsibility to help my clients achieve a positive birth and postpartum experience, encouraging the best start for both mother and baby and the new family as a whole. I absolutely love what I do and am continually inspired by the women and families I work with. Pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period are an exhilarating and challenging time and having good support both before and after baby’s arrival is the key to a smooth and confident transition into parenthood. I have been fascinated with pregnancy, birth and babies for as long as I can remember. As a twelve year-old I was supposed to see the birth of my baby brother but the unpredictable nature of labor prevented that from happening. I carried that curiosity with me through to my own first pregnancy many years later however, and I have only grown more fascinated and passionate about the process with each of my own birth experiences. After some dedication, study and very hard work, I earned certification through DONA International as a birth doula in 2003, enriching my life in amazing ways ever since. After serving families as a birth doula for several years, I desired to extend my support to the sweet yet challenging postpartum weeks and months. So in 2008, I added my certification as a postpartum doula, easing the transition at home with the new baby. My most recent certification has been to become a BirthWorks certified childbirth educator, made official in January 2012. I am very excited to support women and their partners in this new role as educator as they gain knowledge and insight into the birth process, enabling them to trust the amazing power of the human body and its capacity to give birth, but also balancing that trust and knowledge with informed decision-making if the need arises. I am blessed with a loving and supportive husband and four beautiful children. Family is the most important thing in my life and the reason why I value my doula work so much. It is a true privilege and blessing to be invited to assist other families as they grow and I will be forever humbled and grateful for the trust my clients place in me as I join them in welcoming their little miracles. Provided doula support to over 600 families, with the numbers growing every day DONA International birth doula certification since 2003 DONA International postpartum doula certification since 2008 Certified Childbirth Educator through BirthWorks International since 2012 BirthWorks Board Member at Large since 2018 Active member of the Tidewater Chapter of Birth Matters Virginia, a non-profit organization that brings information about evidence-based maternity care to the local community through presentations, film screenings, birth circles and more Yearly attendance at annual 3-day East Coast LATCH breastfeeding conference since 2008 Current certification in Infant, Child and Adult CPR, and First Aid Bachelor of Arts Degree from Texas Christian University, 1994 Mother of four, one birthed with i.v. meds, the remaining three birthed drug-free Breastfed my four babies for 1 to 2 ½ years each