Simone Toomer

I come with a passion for serving families, believing that each should have access to support and resources in a place where many in NYC are distant from their families and dear friends. After the positive natural birth of my daughter, with my doula and partner by my side, I wanted to channel my energy in a new direction — I became a certified birth and postpartum doula, childbirth educator, and doula educator/mentor for my certifying organization Doula Trainings International. I am also an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant and am involved in many community parenting support groups such as La Leche League and Chocolate Milk Cafe, the Charlotte chapter. I also mentor doulas and aspiring lactation consultants. After my 2nd was born at home with a supportive birth team, I further realized how important a trusted, skilled care provider and support team were and made a difference. I struggled with breastfeeding for the first 2 weeks, which was a drastically different experience from my first. Despite feeling discouraged at times, I called on my community for support and advice. I realized before how birth preferences can be different, however through my own experience realized how each journey can be different too, as is each family. I respect and honor this and bring forth education and non-judgmental care to the families I serve. I am CPR and First Aid certified and am always attending workshops and conferences to strengthen my knowledge, further my education, and support families to the best of my ability. I have worked with families in different scopes from being an employee of the Women, Infant and Children Program (WIC) as a breastfeeding peer counselor, where their goal is to increase nutritional and breastfeeding awareness in communities, to working with families of the foster care system, shelters, of the LGBTQ community, with special needs, premature births and parents of multiples. I have a BA in psychology, I was a birth doula with the Brooklyn Department of Health By My Side Doula Support Program and worked at a Brooklyn-based hospital and clinic teaching lactation prenatal education and providing birth and postpartum support.