Dolphin Doula Team

Jennifer Wolfe

Jennifer Wolfe is a Prenatal and Vinyasa Yoga instructor (RYT-500), Doula, Clinical and Medical Master Hypnotherapist, Childbirth Educator, Reiki Master, and a Mom. She is the creator of the best selling prenatal Yoga DVD series; Prenatal Vinyasa Yoga. Jennifer is a Certified Yoga Instructor with 14 years experience and a Certified Doula who has attended over 400 births and has spent close to 10,000 hours supporting women in labor. Jennifer trains yoga instructors, worldwide, in her unique Prenatal Vinyasa Yoga style. Jennifer has pioneered a very effective method of Doula care, called the Dolphin Doula Method, and trains & certifies; doulas, childbirth educators and hypnotherapists. She is also an instructor at the Palo Alto School of Hypnotherapy.

Jennifer developed Prenatal Vinyasa Yoga when she discovered, during her own pregnancy, that the styles of prenatal yoga offered could not adequately prepare her physically and mentally for labor. She missed the flow and strength she achieved in vinyasa classes and wanted a yoga practice that specifically served the needs of the pregnant woman; one that vigorously prepares women for the marathon event of childbirth, while helping women discover their power and inner strength needed during this transformative period in their lives. In one of her teacher trainings with Doug Swenson she became aware that the soft flow style he created could easily be modified for pregnancy. Using her knowledge as a childbirth educator and a doula as well as a vinyasa yoga instructor, she created the system of Prenatal Vinyasa Yoga. It’s popularity took off as pregnant women who were avid vinyasa yoga practitioners before they were pregnant began flocking to her classes. OBGYN’s and midwives in the community began noticing the benefits of this yoga with their patients who were experience fewer pregnancy aches and pains and easier childbirth experiences as well as a reduction of postpartum recovery time and began sending more and more patients to her classes. The demand for this style of prenatal yoga prompted her to create the Prenatal Vinyasa Yoga DVD’s. With the endorsements of doctors, midwives and seasoned yogi’s, Jennifer has brought her style of yoga to over 40,000 pregnant women with sensational reviews.

Tracy Stettner

Tracy is a certified Birth and Post Partum Doula, Personal Trainer, Pilates Instructor and Nutritional Counselor. Tracy has been working for many years in the fitness industry and has spent the last few years focused on pre/postnatal clients. She so enjoyed working with this clientele that in June 2006 she became a Dolphin Doula as well.  Tracy, along with Jennifer Wolfe, helped to reopen Dolphin Doula and now spends her time as a Birth Doula Trainer and Operations Manager of the business.

Women have such different views of what a safe and healthy child birth is. Tracy finds in important to help those involved in the birth community to understand the uniqueness of every situation. Since every birth is so individual, whatever road is traveled to get there, the birth was successful if the woman and her partner felt empowered and educated to make effective decisions.

As a fitness expert and nutritional counselor, Tracy is excited to not only assist pre/post natal women, but all those who are eager to work hard on bringing their bodies into optimal health. She has years of experience assisting women and men of all ages of become more physically fit and nutritionally balanced.

Tracy grew up in on the Peninsula and attended the University of Colorado attaining a degree in Sports Psychology. Tracy and her husband Aaron have two amazing sons Alex & Jordan. In her free time she likes to workout, volunteer,  travel, spend time with her family and friends and enjoy nature.

ACE Personal Trainer • AFAA Group Exercise Instructor • Powerhouse Pilates Instructor • Spinning Instructor • IDEA Fitness Member • CAPPA Member • BABI Member • Dolphin Certified Birth & Post Partum Doula • DONA Trained Doula and Member • ICEA Childbirth Education Instructor • AFPA Nutrition & Wellness Consultant • Baby Boot Camp Instructor and previous franchise owner

Alta Kelly

Alta entered the birth community as a doula trained in Jennifer Wolfe’s Dolphin Method with a strong commitment to empowering women and creating confidence through childbirth in all situations. After working in prenatal care for Common Ground New Orleans, and through her own birth experiences with her mother and close friends, she has committed herself to the belief that every woman is her own expert.

She has always been passionate about women’s healthcare and believes that by providing informational and non-judgmental support beginning in early labor, through birth and early postpartum makes no other job as rewarding.

A native of Santa Barbara, Alta attended Mills College in Oakland, CA, is certified in Childbirth Hypnotherapy through the Palo Alto School of Hypnotherapy, and now lives in San Mateo with her partner Omri.

Melissa Edling

The birth of Melissa’s first daughter was an empowering and life-changing event. The support she received from doula and mentor, Jennifer Wolfe, inspired her to provide the same support to other laboring women. As a Certified Dolphin Method Doula and Childbirth Hypnotherapist, Melissa is committed to her true passion.

Melissa believes a woman’s childbirth experience is most powerful when combined with the physical, informational, and emotional support of a doula. She respects the unique characteristics of each woman, recognizing that each individual will have their own concerns, fears, and/or goals. As such, Melissa is committed to providing non-biased support to all types of births.

Melissa is a long-standing resident on the Peninsula and attended the University of California, Davis attaining a degree in Managerial Economics. Melissa and her husband Jason have two amazing daughters Reese and Zoe. In her free time she likes to read, bake, dance, decorate, and spend time with family and friends.

Katie Comfort

A native of San Mateo, Katie resides in Redwood City with her husband and is a mother of two little ones (a 4 year old girl and a 2 year old boy).

Katie received her doula training from Jennifer Wolfe’s Dolphin Method, which encompasses standard doula practices with added hypnotherapy techniques. She is also a certified Childbirth Hypnotherapist through the Palo Alto School of Hypnotherapy.

Katie decided from her own birth experiences to pursue guiding and empowering other women through birth. She knew she wanted to help other women with their birth experiences when she was able to listen and be of emotional support for her ante-partum roommate through a difficult and frightening moment in the hospital. Through training and experience she has found that providing information and guidance for the woman (and her partner) in order to help them feel prepared for childbirth before and during labor helps to melt away the fear that our culture has come to associate with hospitals and childbirth.

Katie has a BA from Miami University of Ohio and has been working in the business world up until current.

Susan Cortez

Susan is a Childbirth Instructor, a Childbirth Hypnotherapist, Reiki practitioner, and Birth and Postpartum doula. To keep up with the continual changes within the world of pregnancy, birth, and parenting, she attends pertinent trainings, workshops and talks whenever possible, as well as reading current literature.

The birth’s of her two children, son Jeremy now 13, and daughter Angela now 15, were incredibly positive, life-changing events, and were the initial inspiration behind Susan’s choice to pursue a career in this field.

Susan has been teaching childbirth preparation classes, and attending births as a Birth Doula for over 10 years, and has assisted hundreds of women, couples, and families to have a more empowered and positive birth experience. In the past year, Susan became certified as a Dolphin Doula, and is very excited to add the dolphin skill set. The dolphin method, in connection with her extensive knowledge, personal and professional experiences, intuition, and passion allow her to serve birthing families now even more effectively!

Susan is open to, and enjoys working with, the diversity of families that the Bay Area offers, interacting with each family in a welcoming and supportive way.

Occupying her time aside from her work, Susan is back in school studying to attain her B.A. in Psychology, enjoys daily exercise, reading, painting, dancing, writing, spending time with family and friends, and experiencing all the good life has to offer.

Cindy Curry

Cindy was trained by Working Woman Productions in June of 2006 with Felicia Roche. As a certified doula through DONA,she gained her experience by providing labor support to a variety of women including young teens to 30 years and older. She is a postpartum doula helping new families and growing families with the challenges that come with a new baby and help to make the transition easier. Cindy has received her Childbirth Hypnotherapist certification, taught by Jennifer Wolfe through the Palo Alto school of Hypnotherapy. Cindy also is currently a Masters of Psychology MFT student at Argosy University in Alameda.

Cindy is a mother to three naturally birthed and all breastfed children and continues to nurture and support their growing curiosities.

The compassion Cindy shows to each and every woman she comes in contact is self evident. Her ability to listen to the needs of her client and her clients partner is an important part in supporting the couples needs when preparing for the birth and labor. Showing support and compassion for every woman who wishes to experience her birth with the love and support she deserves, is Cindy’s ultimate goal.

Natalie Thiel

Natalie is a Certified Dolphin Doula, a Certified Childbirth Hypnotherapist, a Relationship Coach, and is currently enrolled in the Instructor Certification Training Program for Hand and Hand Parenting in the Bay Area. In short, her passion revolves around all intimate aspects of the family. She works with families of all forms and expressions, and loves the work of being present and offering support for people moving through major life and family transitions; namely, childbirth. Just like all families and relationships are different, every childbirth experience is completely unique, and she is dedicated to specializing care for each woman and parent-to-be so they can have a better birth experience.

Her path to becoming a doula herself began with the gift of having a doula attend the birth of her son, giving her first hand experience of the amazing support services a doula can provide. Since becoming a Certified Dolphin Doula she now has the opportunity to continue the work that was so meaningful for her: helping women have a positive and empowered birth experience, however that may look for them.

Natalie currently lives in the East Bay Area with her partner and their son, tending to a small urban farm in their backyard. Her son, who is now five, reminds her often how eagerly he awaits the day he is old enough to attend a birth.

Sheila Dukas-Janakos MPH, LE, IBCLC

Sheila has been involved in the field of reproductive maternal and child health for over 23 years. She has worked in public health for 7 years shifting her focus to babies and moms and a lactation career after having 3 children. She earned her B.S. in Community Health from SFSU in 1987, attended UCLA’s Lactation Educator Program in 1991, and completed her Masters of Public Health in 1995 from San Jose State University with her theses on “Breastfeeding for the Working Mom and/or Student.” She passed the boards to become an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant in 1996, a certification she maintains to this day.

She currently has a private practice and is the Owner of Healthy Horizons Breastfeeding Centers in the San Francisco Bay Area, acting as a Clinical Lactation Consultant, Health Educator, and Perinatal Educator for local hospitals and pediatric groups. As part of her practice, she operates support groups for new moms and babies, and working moms and has provided consultations, pump rentals, and health products for over 19 years to the community. Her specialties include suck & swallowing disorders; working and breastfeeding; infant nutrition, care and normal newborn behavior; breastfeeding challenges such as breast refusal, sore nipples, mastitis, weight gain/loss, and milk supply problems.

Jessica Berman

As a birth and postpartum doula, I work with parents before, during and after the births of their children. I work helping to prepare families for childbirth and I provide continuous support, guidance and encouragement throughout labor. I believe that birth is a natural and powerful event and that every woman deserves undivided care and attention as she brings a new life into the world.

I also work with parents to help them adjust to their new arrivals by providing practical assistance and emotional support in my postpartum practice. This includes assistance with breastfeeding, teaching parents to care for and soothe their newborn and understand their baby’s cues, helping mothers recover from childbirth through rest and nutrition, and helping with general household tasks such as dishes and laundry.

Each family, mother, baby and birth is unique, and my care is tailored to meet individual needs.

My path to becoming doula starts in South Africa, where I lived until moving to Canada in the late 1980s. After 10 years in Toronto, I moved to San Francisco in 1999. After surviving several spectacular dot-com meltdowns, I shifted career paths into the not-for-profit world.

After five years of raising money for wonderful organizations such as Shanti (a San Francisco-based organization that provides social services for people living with AIDS and breast cancer), I embarked on a more hands-on career: working as a doula.

This work enables me to fulfill my life-long passion for women, pregnancy, birth and babies!

In 2006 I had the opportunity to learn from the legendary midwife Ina May Gaskin by participating in The Farm’s Midwifery Assistant workshop and I have also completed several programs offered by Doulas of North America (DONA). I also volunteer as a birth doula at St. Luke’s Hospital in San Francisco, primarily servicing low-income women.

After living in San Francisco for four years, I now live in Oakland’s Lake Merritt District. I provide birth and postpartum services in the East Bay and in San Francisco.

Other Training/Education
I was a women’s studies major at the University of Toronto. I am also a DONA-trained birth and postpartum doula, and I participated in the assistant midwifery program at The Farm (Tennessee) in September 2006.

Dr. Helen Marlo

Helen Marlo, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist in private practice in Burlingame, CA, where she treats children and adults. She is Associate Professor and Director of the Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology Program at Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont, CA. She integrates a background in psychoneuroimmunology and mind-body healing; infant, child, and adult development as well as extensive experience with trauma, including early childhood trauma, into her clinical practice. For over 15 years, Dr. Marlo has provided psychotherapy, consultation, and clinical services to children and adults addressing developmental issues, problems, and traumas including issues unique to prenatal, pregnancy, and postpartum experiences. She and her husband have a daughter, Renée and a son, André.