Meet Tisha

Portland Metro Birth and Postpartum Doula

Tisha’s Approach to Doula Work

Tisha works to provide a trusting, nurturing, and safe environment through your pregnancy, labor, delivery and postpartum care. Through fostering an open minded, educational, and informative perspective about pregnancy and childbirth, she will work with you to discover what your ideal birth means for you, and how she can support you the most. Creating an environment that is calming and safe for you during labor is her focus, and she will provide the use of massage, acupressure, breathing techniques, positioning, and emotional support for your comfort and relaxation. Tisha cares deeply, and fully supports the choices of every birthing person, and strives to meet your needs and aid you with decisions about your pregnancy and labor. She strives to assist new parents in creating the most positive, nurturing breastfeeding/chestfeeding experience possible, while respecting the variety of infant feeding choices. She currently sits on the Oregon Doula Association’s Board of Directors as the membership chair, where she aids in equitable access to doula care for all families throughout Oregon. After years of experience in Portland, Tisha is now a doula trainer in trauma informed care, and co-leads the internship that led her to Portland 9 years ago.

As a postpartum doula, Tisha gives nurturing care to the birthing person, and provides education, and resources to the whole family. She aims to help new families figure out what their “new normal” is, whether it be their first, second or 5th child, even if that means some kids are pets! Tisha feels that what is important is that you feel supported, heard, and helped. From processing labor and birth, to lactation support and navigating the complexities of new parenthood with a partner or without, she works to empower you with the knowledge and support to be ready and feel prepared for your journey with your new little one or ones.

Tisha’s Background

Tisha’s passion for birth work flourished as she had the privilege of witnessing the influential role doula’s played in the births of close friends, and the beneficial impact they had on the birthing person and their partner in what was one of the most sacred times in their lives. After 20 years of experience working in the women’s reproductive field in both Washington, DC, and Atlanta, GA, she felt the compelling draw to support birthing families as a labor support doula. Shortly after, she discovered that not only did she have the passion and desire to do birth work, but it was in her blood, as her great grandmother, and great aunt were doulas as well.

Tisha and her partner Larisa, welcomed their child into the world in 2017, and have been reveling in the parenthood journey ever since! When she is not supporting families in birth, she enjoys taking hikes in the gorge, seeking out new parks to play with her daughter, singing with the Portland Lesbian Choir, and as a Chicago native, she tries to find all the deep dish pizza that Portland has to offer!

Services Tisha Offers

Tisha’s Certification, Training, & Education

Certified Lactation Counselor, Academy of Lactation Policy and Practice
Hypnobabies Certified Hypno-Doula
Doula Trauma Informed Care/Cultural Competency Trainor, MotherTree Consulting
Adult and Pediatric CPR/First Aid/ AED
Placenta Specialist Training, Doula Love Training Services
Emergency Childbirth for Doulas, Birthingway College of Midwifery
DONA approved birth and postpartum doula trained, MotherTree Birth Services
BA in Women Studies and Public Relations, University of Georgia

“I worked with Tisha in November of 2016 for the birth of my son. Before the birth she made herself available to us and helped us feel prepared. We made plans for my birth and then of course from the start nothing went as expected. Tisha was so great the whole time. I had a very long labor- about 24 hours and she was right there with me the whole time, providing physical and emotional support, encouraging me, talking to the hospital staff on my behalf to ensure that we could stick with my plan as much as possible even with the unexpected turn of events.
I was in good hands. My husband and I really felt comfortable with Tisha. She is very knowledgable about the birth process , she had incredible stamina to stick with me through a very long labor, she knew how to advocate for me to hospital staff while keeping good relations with everyone. And then afterwards she encapsulated my placenta! She also came and checked in with me after my son’s birth.”
-Client Abby S.
Tisha is an experienced, caring, professional doula. We chose to work with her after interviewing several doulas and were very pleased with our decision! We would absolutely hire her again if given the opportunity with a second pregnancy. We were seeking a doula that would serve as a second support person in labor and delivery. It was important to us as mom and dad to be the primary focus of support for one another, with our doula adding an extra layer of support. Tisha honored this dynamic and exceeded our expectations with respect to helping us prepare for 'the big day' with communicarion-based coaching to assist us in developing a birth wish list that fit our own needs and desires. She always listened to our wishes and provided objective feedback to help inform our decisions. Our interactions at these prenatal visits helped us feel more confident and prepared going into it. We felt that Tisha provided a strong and calming presence throughout the whole process. After our son's birth, Tisha's postpartum visit was incredibly helpful in getting some initial 'first time parent' questions answered. She also made herself available by phone and text afterwards for follow up. We would not hesitate to recommend Tisha to anyone looking for a fantastic labor doula!
- Mike Amy C-T
When I was matched with Tisha by the folks at Portland Doula Love I got really excited about working with her even before we met. She sounded like an excellent doula with many more years experience than we initially were looking for. And most importantly, she had all the traits and qualities I was hoping for - warmth and candor, affirming of queer parents, a great sense of humor, and loves to dance. When we met for the first time to interview it became clear she wasn't just a good practitioner match for me, it was a huge YES! My time working with her proved my instincts were spot on.
What I experienced in her care was generosity, groundedness, extraordinary stamina (my labor was longer than average), great connection and an unwavering commitment to my birth process (even as it veered well outside my hoped for plan). We also felt her lovingkindness and respect throughout - for myself, my wife and our baby. With Tisha I felt deeply supported and she played a huge part in my wellbeing during my labor and delivery. Even the hard stuff felt doable with her by our side. She helped us navigate difficult choices with clear information and obvious care. I felt at ease in her presence and appreciated all the ways she worked hard to make sure we had the understanding, tools and support we needed, before, during and after our daughter's birth. What a terrific experience! We are so grateful for her and recommend her highly.
- Mom