Who We Are
Our Commitment and Vision:
Mission:
The Doula Friendly® Initiative (DFI) provides a structured pathway and set of standards to assist healthcare facilities in integrating doula care into maternal and infant health services. Our goal is to support the development of care models that are centered on the needs of patients and families.
Vision:
The Doula Friendly® Designation signifies a healthcare facility's commitment to enhancing maternal and infant health outcomes by fostering inclusive, patient-centered practices. We envision that facilities achieving this designation will have established systems that support evidence-based care, tailored to meet the diverse needs of the populations they serve.
Averjill Rookwood Lacey, CO-founder
Averjill is a passionate doula who is trained to serve in the fertility, birth and postpartum doula care space. She also brings over twenty years of employer benefits leadership experience in national hospital systems and consulting with fortune 100 companies. Compassion, cultural awareness, evidence-based care and advocacy are the pillars upon which she has built, The Corporate Doula®, her private practice business. Alongside her hospital doula care advocacy, her commitment to overall maternal and infant health on the community level has led her to partnerships with The Doula Network, multiple state plan Medicaid doula program development projects, faith communities and state and regional grant funded doula initiatives.
Program assessment, policy development and project implementation and sustainment are Averjill’s areas of expertise that will be utilized to assist health care facilities in their journeys to earn the Doula Friendly® Designation. Her professional experiences within the health care delivery matrices will be leveraged to help clients resolve and remove barriers to the goal of balanced doula integration in health care facilities.
Making a difference for families and providers in birthing spaces is the work that Averjill is honored to do every day.
Angela Daniel, Co-Founder
Angela Daniel is a birth doula, childbirth educator, and certified lactation counselor who lives in Gainesville, FL, with her husband and three sons. Angela holds a Master of Science in Social Work from the University of Louisville. She owns and operates a doula practice, Family Centered Birth Services, primarily supporting families in the Gainesville area. She began her journey in birth work while living in Baton Rouge, LA, after the birth of her first son. Angela is certified as a doula with DONA International and has been serving birthing families since 2010.
Angela is actively involved in the birthing community, increasing awareness and access to doulas and improving relationships with other birth professionals and administrators. Her passion is evident in her previous community involvement working with groups centering on supporting abuse survivors, breastfeeding, and expanding doula access through Medicaid. Angela also helped start doula networks in Lansing, MI, and Gainesville, FL. She engages in an advisory role to increase equitable maternal and child health care in multiple capacities. Angela currently serves on the Doula Community Coalition and as the Director of Advocacy for DONA International.
Our Story
The Doula Friendly® Initiative (DFI) began in response to a growing need: families were losing access to doula support during hospital births due to inconsistent policies and unclear systems. A statewide coalition of maternal health advocates came together to address the issue and promote better collaboration between doulas and healthcare teams.
What started as a push to restore access quickly evolved. The focus shifted toward building lasting solutions that support meaningful integration of doulas into the hospital setting. The goal was not just to allow doulas back in, but to create sustainable models where their role is understood, valued, and supported by clinical teams.
Among the members of that original coalition were Averjill Rookwood Lacey and Angela Daniel, who remained committed to advancing the work when the coalition’s focus shifted. Through their organization, A&A Doula Consulting, they formalized the Doula Friendly® Initiative to continue working with hospitals using clear standards and a collaborative approach.
Today, the Doula Friendly® Designation reflects that continued commitment. It signals a healthcare environment where doulas are recognized as essential partners in improving care for birthing families.
contact us to get started
Schedule your discovery session to discuss how DFI can create a strategic plan to bring harmony and innovation to doula care at your facility.