Get to Know Us
We are a team of four midwives sharing the joys and responsibilities of our work together. Although our backgrounds and training are quite different, we are blessed to share a common vision and management style in our midwifery care. Read on to see our individual bios.
Laura Doyle, LM, CPM
My three children were born into the loving hands of midwives at home. Giving birth was the most amazing, challenging, and transformative experience of my life. Midwifery clearly became my path after the homebirth of my first daughter. I was so impressed with midwifery care and its holistic approach, and how natural and intuitive it was. My homebirth experience was such a precious gift; I wanted every woman to have that same opportunity. Immediately after my birth, I started getting invited to my friend’s births and their friend’s births. From there it began.
​I attended Sonoma State University, majoring in Gender Studies with an emphasis on Women’s Health (1991-1996). It was there I learned to be an advocate for myself in the realm of health care. Empowering women became my focus, first through wilderness survival skills, and then on to body awareness. In 2002, I completed the Heart and Hands Midwifery Program, taught by Elizabeth Davis in Marin. Soon after I began working as a midwifery apprentice with licensed midwives Lorraine Carolan and Avi Livingstone in Southern Humboldt. I worked with Avi for 6 years until her passing in 2009. Learning in this rural setting, where the nearest hospital was 1-2 hours away, has taught me to always be prepared and think ahead. I attended local midwife Jan Perrone’s midwifery classes and continue to attend conferences and trainings to further my skills. I am certified in IV therapy, CPR, and Neonatal Resuscitation.
​In 2010, I went to Senegal, West Africa through a midwifery program called African Birth Collective. There I worked in a rural birth center, gaining clinical experience necessary to the process of licensure in California. I learned many great skills there and loved working with women on the other side of the planet. I am now a Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) and a California Licensed Midwife (LM).
​It was truly such a blessing for me to have midwives at my own births. The process of becoming a family is often times a huge transition. For most mothers and families it is crucial to have intimate support through these rites of passage. It is such an honor to participate and support families in this process. I believe birth is the vital roots of our beginning and should be as loving, peaceful, and safe as possible.
Calista Young, LM, CPM
I began studying midwifery in 1997. I attended beginning and advanced midwifery classes as well as many workshops and conferences over the next few years. I became a doula for Doulas by Nature in 1999. I began my 2 ½ year home birth midwifery apprenticeship in 1999, taking a break to have my son, Alder, who was born at home in the water. I have been a childbirth educator since 2000, specializing in home birth. I have studied homeopathy, acupuncture and herbs, and am a Level 1 Reiki practitioner. I am currently IV, CPR and neonatal resuscitation certified. I am also a member of CAM. I interned at Casa de Nacimiento, a birth center in El Paso, Texas, for two months (700 clinical hours), from December 2002 to February 2003, primarily serving Mexican women and their families. I have 25 years of experience attending births in the water and on land. I began practicing as a primary midwife in 2003. I gave birth at home to my second son, Mateo, in December 2005, and my third child, a daughter, Annika, in March, 2008. I became a Certified Professional Midwife in 2009. Knowing how precious my own family is to me, I feel extremely blessed to participate in the gentle birth of each new being and to witness the blossoming of each incredible family.
Sunshine Tresidder, LM, CPM, LMT
I first moved to southern Humboldt in 1992 and began attending births in southern Humboldt/northern Mendocino from 1993-2017. In that time I raised 2 boys into men, studied from and worked with many of the midwives of Humboldt county. I learned a lot about Life from serving growing families in a rural community. It is a true gift to watch the babies you witnessed being born as they grow up and begin to have families of their own.
In 2017, I moved to the Wasatch Mountains of Utah to attend the Midwifery College of Utah (MCU). I have since graduated with my Bachelors of Science in Midwifery degree (B.S.M.). I am a Licensed Midwife (L.M.) in the states of California and Utah, and I am certified by the North America Registry of Midwives (N.A.R.M.) as a Professional Midwife (C.P.M.) I am also a licensed Massage Therapist (L.M.T.) and I trained for many years in CranioSacral Therapy for pregnancy, postpartum and newborn care. I am currently working towards becoming a I.B.C.L.C., Lactation Counselor.
I am grateful to join you in your journey to growing and birthing your baby and
supporting you in your postpartum. These are such important moments of our lives and it is
an honor to serve you in this journey.
Ali Lape, LM, CPM
My passion for natural birth began as a teen mom. With the pregnancy of my son in 2000, I felt unsupported, judged, alone and unsafe and dedicated myself to becoming a midwife so none of my sisters would have to go through that. I became a doula and in 2004, I had my own homebirth attended by midwife Mary. I then worked with Mary and in 2007, I was accepted to Maternidad La Luz. I completed the rigorous training in El Paso, TX with the help and support of my grandmothers and great-grandmothers who were also midwives. After completing that training, I worked with All Natural Birth in Las Cruces, New Mexico with Katia LeMone and honed my herb and homeopathic practices.
I then lived in and raised my two amazing children in Corvallis, Oregon while I attended Oregon State University earning a BS in Biocultural Anthropology. California called me home and I joined the practice of Full Circle Midwifery in Santa Barbara, working with the midwives who attended my own birth. After this, I moved back to Oregon to return to school and focus on birth research.
Since 2023, I’ve been providing prenatal and postpartum midwifery care and well person care at a hospital-based, rural clinic in Fortuna. I am also a doula for folx with public insurance. I remain involved in birth justice work and serve on the nonprofit boards of the Community Doula Program and Humboldt Healthy Families. I am passionate about ancestral recovery and reconnection and am honored to serve you and your family.
Deanna Dick, LM, CPM
My first interest in maternal and child health sparked while I was in college studying Spanish, but much preferring my roommate's midwifery books and videos to my own. After I graduated from Cal Poly Humboldt in 1999, that interest grew into a deep desire to learn more, and I began to pursue medical training by becoming an EMT in 2001. My midwifery career officially began overseas, where I attended and graduated from the Birth Attendant School in Perth, Australia in 2002, and became a Certified Midwife through the World Health Organisation (WHO). For two years, I practised midwifery and worked at various hospitals and maternity clinics in Nigeria, India and Nepal. It was during those years that I became deeply committed to the safety and optimal treatment of pregnant and birthing women, no matter where in the world I might be.
Upon returning to the US, I began working towards my midwifery license through NARM and the CA Medical Board. I worked at a medical pregnancy clinic, and an independent homebirth midwifery practice, until I became a Licensed Midwife (LM) and a Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) in 2010. I co-founded and co-owned Wellspring Family Midwifery, which operated in this community for over 10 years. I have over 22 years of midwifery experience, both overseas, and in California, and am certified in IV Therapy, CPR and Neonatal Resuscitation (NRP).
I had all three of my daughters at home, with midwives that I trust and respect. It was a deeply profound experience for me to be on “the other side” as a pregnant and birthing mama, as I had been delivering babies for many years prior. My own experience and appreciation for pregnancy, birth and motherhood has been a turning point in wanting to be a supportive and encouraging safekeeper of these identifying and empowering phases of our lives. I am so excited to join this team of loving and knowledgeable midwives, and hope to be able to support families in our community in whatever ways they need it.
Sarah Lennartz, Student Midwife
I was first introduced to midwifery care in my early twenties, and a few years later, my sister invited me to attend the birth of my niece. That experience opened me to the raw and transformative power of birth; I knew then that I wanted to be a midwife.
At the end of 2020, I completed a doula training and began to offer birth and postpartum support in Humboldt county. In the fall of 2021, I enrolled in the National Midwifery Institute and started an apprenticeship with a local home birth midwife. I began apprenticing with Moonstone Midwives in 2022 and after getting pregnant, decided to take a 2 year break to give birth and be home with my son. My own experiences during this time have truly shaped the way I show up with tenderness and care.
It has been an honor to support and serve families through these life-changing cycles. I am excited to return to Moonstone Midwives as I continue on the path of midwifery!
Jess Clower, Birth Assistant
Hi! I’m Jess—a student midwife, doula, mother, yoga teacher, and a deep believer in the magic of breath and a warm cup of tea. My journey into birth work began when I became a mother and experienced firsthand how life-changing it is to be truly seen, supported, and held through the wild, beautiful, and vulnerable seasons of pregnancy, birth, and postpartum.
With a background as a doula, I’m now deepening my path through midwifery studies, bringing together evidence-based care with a heart-centered, holistic approach. I believe birth is not just a medical event—it’s a profoundly human experience, rooted in trust, autonomy, and the wisdom of our bodies.
My work is grounded in mindfulness—shaped by my yoga training and the contemplative spirit of my Assyrian roots, where presence and prayer have always gone hand in hand. This foundation supports my commitment to showing up with calm, compassion, and deep listening in every space I enter.
When I’m not studying placentas or nerding out over fetal positioning, you’ll find me teaching slow-flow yoga, blending herbal teas, or adventuring outdoors with my daughters. The breath is my anchor—it grounds us, opens us, and brings us home to ourselves, both on the mat and in the birth space.
At the heart of my work is connection: to self, to body, to community, and to the deep inner knowing we each carry. When we nurture that connection, we grow stronger—together.
We're Hiring!
We are looking for another Licensed Midwife to join our practice.
We are striving for a sustainable model with a call schedule, 3 office days a week, and 4 weeks vacation a year. We have two birth rooms at the center and we offer home birth, preconception support, and well body care.
​
REQUIRED CERTIFICATION(S): CPM MEAC, CPM PEP, NRP/CPR
EMPLOYMENT TYPE: Salary (W2)
SALARY OR REIMBURSEMENT AMOUNT: $65,000-$78,000/ year
POSITION TYPE: Full-Time
If you're interested in the position, want more information or have any questions, please call us at 707-633-3009 or email us at moonstonemidwives@gmail.com