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Featured Presenters - Episode 3 

A headshot of a woman wearing thick-framed eyeglasses, large metal hoop earrings, and a red shirt.

Vanessa Lovejoy-Guron (Filipino), LCCE, CD(DONA), IBC

Helping birthing people and their families claim their birth story is why I began my journey into this field.

 

My passion for birth work through an intersectional lens began percolating after the profound connections my wife and I made with each of our doulas for our two kids. How were we to navigate a colonized western medical approach to birth?

 

I hope that my work as a birth doula and childbirth educator for the past 3 years has helped reduce these systemic barriers. I’m grateful to have this opportunity as a Daybreak Star Doula to continue to disrupt these systems of oppression by walking alongside families throughout their perinatal period and assisting however I can.

 

I aim to create a space of non-judgmental and unbiased information-sharing to better foster joy and excitement into the world of parenthood. Helping families connect with the greater community is truly a gift! Community-based doula care is key in providing that support.

A headshot image of a woman in her garden. She has medium-length brown hair and a closed-mouth smile.

Melissa Meyer, Plant Medicine and Traditional Foods Educator (Tsimshian)

Melissa Meyer is a member of the Tsimshian Nation, Eagle clan from a northern fishing village in British Columbia, Canada called Lax kw’alaams or Island of Wild Roses.

 

She has been married into the Nuxalk Nation from Bella Coola, BC for over 22 years. They have two children and live in Tacoma, WA.

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Melissa is a Traditional Health Practitioner at Seattle Indian Health and a life-long student of our plant relatives. Along with her children, she is a member of the Seattle-based tribal dance group, Tsimshian Haayuuk.

 

Melissa can often be found hiking the trails and parks of Washington and wild harvesting local plants and weather permitting, swimming outdoors in lakes or the ocean whenever possible!

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