Austyn Holleman (she/her) is a perinatal mental health therapist and public health worker with a deep passion for reproductive justice. She was trained as a birth doula at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Hospital in 2017 and has since fallen in love with birthwork and the birthworker community in the DMV. Through the co-creating and running of a volunteer doula program at Mary’s Center over the last few years, Austyn has seen firsthand the impact that doulas can have on the birthing experience and health outcomes of pregnant people from systematically oppressed populations. The Community Doula Network was born out of that volunteer program, and the CDN team hopes to use the lessons learned to build an even stronger, community-based doula initiative. Austyn believes that real societal change begins with empowered birth and adequate support for pregnant and new parents, and she can’t wait to see all the amazing things that this network of birth workers are able to accomplish in community with one another!