We are excited to have Tara Van Dyke, Margarita Valbuena and Shizue Taerbaum join the Ohana team as Doulas. A warm welcome to all of them.
Tara witnessed birth for the first time on her 13th birthday while watching her dad do medical work in Kenya, East Africa. This forever shaped her view of birth as a normal and beautiful life event. She went on to earn her BA at Wheaton College in Communications and work as an editor, but after the births of her own 4 children, she developed a strong desire to assist other new and expecting families in their transition to parenthood. Tara became certified as a doula through ICEA in 2008 and completed childbirth educator training as well. Read Tara’s bio here 
Margarita completed her birth doula training with The Organization of Labor Assistants for Birth Options and Resources. She has worked with pregnant women and families of young children in several different countries for nearly 12 years, as a child development and early childhood education professional.Margarita holds a BA in Psychology from the University of Michigan and a MS in Child Development from Erikson Institute. Read Margarita’s bio here 
Shizue’s path to becoming a doula began in nursing school, where her experience in labor and delivery cultivated a passion and interest in supporting expectant mothers. In addition to her education in maternity and women’s healthcare through University of Illinois’ College of Nursing, Shizue trained as a doula with Doulas of North America. Read Shizue’s bio here 
