Nicki Albrecht CD(DONA), LCCE, ICCE

In 1981, I had the privilege of providing support to a friend during her labour.  This experience, along with the birth of my first child in 1982, sparked an interest in supporting and educating childbearing women and their families.  By the time my son celebrated his first birthday, I was trained and teaching prenatal classes for the Edmonton Childbirth Education Association.  Over the years I have taught thousands of families in both group and private settings. I am a certified childbirth educator through the International Childbirth Education Association and the Lamaze Institute for Normal Birth.  As well as educating families, I have provided support at over 100 births, first in an informal capacity and starting in 1996 as a DONA International Certified Doula.  I am also a DONA approved Birth Doula Trainer and offer both BASIC and Advanced Doula workshops for aspiring doulas. 
 
Continuing education is important to me and I enjoy attending conferences and workshops and reading current research related to the childbearing years.  I have taken numerous courses and workshops on supporting breastfeeding families, the most recent being the Douglas College Breastfeeding Course for Health Care Providers (2003) and the BC Reproductive Care Program, Breastfeeding: Making a Difference (2007). 
 
My husband and I, residents of West Kelowna since 1990, have enjoyed raising our four children in this beautiful valley. 

Contact info:   (250) 768-6979 or nalbrecht@shaw.ca

Wendy Muir CD(DONA), LCCE

I am a prenatal instructor at Okanagan College, a DONA International Certified Doula, a Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator, the mother of five wonderful children and married for over thirty years. I have enjoyed being involved with pregnancy and the birthing process ever since my Registered Nurse’s training when I discovered my love for maternity nursing. The whole birthing process continues to be amazing and wonderful to me.

I began birth support with friends and my husband’s colleagues in 1984, after the birth of our first child. Since 1999, I have been teaching prenatal classes at Okanagan College. In 2005, with our children in their teens and twenties, I decided to become a DONA certified doula and attend more births. Over the years, I have accompanied women through their labour in a wide variety of situations ranging from the average woman and her partner with their first baby, to single moms, teen moms, women who have had more than two babies and one couple with the last five of their ten children. Their choices in labour have varied greatly from those who want as few interventions as possible to those who prefer an elective caesarean. My goal is to help each family have the best birth they can, according to their preferences, given the specific labour or situation they find themselves experiencing.

Continuing education is important to me; I attend workshops, training sessions and keep up with recent periodicals and research. In the spring of 2007, I participated in the BC Reproductive Care Program - Breastfeeding: Making a Difference, an 18 hour breastfeeding course, and July, 2008, I attended the DONA International Convention. In 2009, I became a Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator. Other courses in the last four years include Lamaze International Advanced Skills Series: Mission Possible and DONA International: Boundary Skills for Doulas.

Contact info:   (250) 768-2562 or wendy.small.wonders@gmail.com