Corina Bye

Corina Bye is a settler of Welsh and Norwegian ancestry, and whose matrimonial parents are Ronni Dawson of the Musgamagw Dsawada’enuwx Tribe, and Teresa McDougall of the Namgis tribe, (both of the Kwakwaka’wakw Nation). She is immensely grateful to live, work and pray upon the lands of the Coast Salish peoples, with gratitude to all of the Ancestors of the traditional unceded Semiahmoo territories upon which she resides as a guest. She is a mother to three of her own beautiful children and has been helping to support the peaceful entry for hundreds of other children over the last 13 years. Corina is back in her role as pregnancy outreach and Early Year Doula Program Coordinator with the Fraser Region Aboriginal Friendship Centre Association. She is a childbirth educator with Douglas College and is blessed to be an ally birth keeper in the Kilila Birth Keeper Collective. Corina has recently certified as a Postpartum Fitness Specialist with a focus upon pelvic floor and core recovery for birthing people. Corina feels that last 6 years have been an incredibly humbling journey of decolonizing her perspective as a birth worker and hopes to be a resource for others dedicated to the path of showing up in better ways for Life Givers and families across Turtle Island. 

Yesenia Giron

Yesenia is an Ojibwe, Cree & Salvadoran mother to four, supporting families as a full spectrum birth keeper (doula) and childbirth educator. Her belief is that birth is an instinctive and physiological transformation from life giver, to riding the waves of labor and navigating through the postpartum rite of passage. After the birth of each of her children, she began to focus on healing, both spiritually and emotionally on what it meant to carry these little beings within us. She found solace in knowing that she could make an important change in the cycles of life, by beginning the healing at the roots: the womb. Birth became the steppingstone and foundational background to the journey of reclaiming her Indigenous roots, culture, and sense of self as woman and as mother. Yesenia has trained and learned from an array of doula organizations throughout Vancouver, with a primary focus on traditional teachings and home birth support. These trainings, teachings and sharing of knowledge have been the foundation of her vision for decolonizing birth and returning birth back to the roots of the communities she serves. Yesenia’s support prioritizes the BIPOC community, low-income families, teen parents and single parent households.

Marnie Turner

Way̓! isn̓qlxʷskʷíst, Xáy qʷət qʷ uł nw̓yápixčn̓. Marnie Turner. Marnie Turner is of Okanagan, French Canadian and European descent. She is a mother to five boys who are her joy, and being their mom is the greatest gift she has been given. Marnie has supported North Americas First Peoples with all things postnatal for the past ten years. A few years ago, Marnie was gifted the opportunity to learn and work with Metis and Indigenous families prenatally and through to birth. Since then, she has been providing full-spectrum services, prenatal support, and preparation, leading into birth and concluding with postnatal care. To further her knowledge in a good way, Marnie is very often enrolled in different courses (within the North American post-secondary educational system), while continuing to learn traditional Indigenous practices pertaining to the prenatal, birthing, and postnatal experience. Currently Marnie is studying to become an International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant and obtaining her Childbirth Educator Certification. 

Stacey Williams

Stacey Williams is from the Skwxw7mesh (Squamish) & Snuneymuxw (Nanaimo) Nations on her fathers’ side & Kwakwaka’wakw (Campbell River, Fort Rupert, Alert Bay, Port Hardy) Wuikinuxv (Rivers Inlet) and Haisla (kitimaat) Nations on her mothers’ side. Her Traditional name is Snitelwet. Stacey is a mother to 3 beautiful children: 2 girls and 1 boy. Her household also includes 2 grandchildren, grandmother & many nieces and nephews that have been a part her home for the last 15 years. Stacey is a full spectrum birth keeper. Currently, her support prioritizes high-risk pregnancies and supporting families that require extra support through a non-profit organization. Her dream for the future is to support the opening of a birthing center for Indigenous families. Stacey’s passion is to create a safe and welcoming place for these families to seek support in their birthing plans and to birth their babies in a decolonized, holistic, safe, and cultural way. Stacey is also a co-facilitator for Indigenous Doula Training throughout different areas of BC.

Symone Alexander

Symone is of Gitxan and French, from Kispiox descent. In her loving home she has two beautiful children, one girl and one boy both under the age of 6. Her life has taken her on an incredible journey of being a chef and working at amazing restaurants and learning different skills on perfecting her art in food. Being a chef has taught Symone that one of the best ways to connect with other people is through nourishing homemade cultural food. Nothing beats a fulfilling, warm meal surrounded by all your loved ones. After being blessed with having two beautiful children at a young age, she was able to meet a wonderful group of people to show her a different path in life within the birthing community. Seeing the connections and relationships they all built with her family, encouraged Symone to want to change careers into the birthing community as a birth worker. Having the knowledge of cooking and birthing, Symone has combined both of her talents together to not only help with the birthing journey but also to nourish the passage into postpartum with home-cooked, nutritional meals. Symone is currently being mentored by the birth keepers in the collective. 

Karen Winegarden

Karen Winegarden is of German and English descent. Her stepfather is Plains Cree from the O’Cheise and Sunchild Reserve in Rocky Mountain House, Alberta. Karen is a mother to four beautiful children; 1 son and 3 daughters, one of whom is in the spirit world. Karen is a full spectrum birth keeper, with her current support prioritizing high risk pregnancies and walking along side families that require extra support through the Fraser Region Aboriginal Friendship Centre Association. With her combined knowledge and lived experience, Karen’s calling, and passion has brought her to focusing and caring for families who are navigating substance use during the perinatal and postnatal period. Karen’s hopes and dreams are to open a birthing centre and she has a love for home birth!