Melanie Patrick (she/her) is a DTI Certified Birth Doula, a CAPPA Labor and Postpartum Doula, a Bereavement Doula, a Hypno-Doula, and a Certified Hypnobabies® Childbirth Hypnosis Instructor.

While she supports families who choose to birth using a variety of methods, or no particular method, Melanie is a Hypno-Doula; trained and experienced in both Hypnobabies® and HypnoBirthing®. Her advanced trainings include: Advocacy, Holding Space for Pregnancy Loss, Spinning Babies techniques, Massage for Birth, and TENS usage in labor. She has additional training in helping families get Evidence Based care, supporting survivors of assault, and navigating bias in the birth room. Melanie brings a calming spirit to her clients while helping them feel confident through pregnancy, birth, and their early days as new parents. She has experience with couples, single parents, LGBTQIA and QTBIPOC families, advanced maternal age, IVF, multiples, supporting surrogate families, transmasculine and non-binary birth givers, VBAC, VBA2C, high and low risk births, families who have experienced loss or who are expecting a loss, and is available to provide faith-based support to those who request it. She attends births in Durham and Chapel Hill. Melanie is a Womanist as defined by Alice Walker, is passionate about her family, lives in north Durham, is a backyard bird enthusiast, and maybe works a wee bit too much (but LOVES it)!

Melanie's Training and Experience:

  • April 2012: Completed “CAPPA Labor Doula Training” with Ruth Kraft, New York, NY

  • June 2012: Completed “H.U.G. Your Baby” Training

  • August 2012: Attended “Breastfeeding for Doulas” with Shirley Malfish, Tarrytown NY

  • October 2012: Completed “CAPPA Postpartum Doula Training” with Jodi Krentzman, Natick, MA

  • March 2013: Completed “HypnoBirthing Support Techniques for Birth Workers” with Johanna D’Aleo, Port Chester, NY

  • August 2013: Became CLD, Certified Labor Doula through Childbirth And Postpartum Professional Association (CAPPA)

  • January 2014: Attended “Rebozo for Labor & Birth” with Gena Kirby Garcia, Westchester, NY

  • March 2014: Attended “Spinning Babies” Workshop with Gail Tully, New Rochelle, NY

  • July 2014: Completed American Red Cross “First Aid/CPR/AED” Training, Greenwich, CT

  • February 2015: Attended “When Survivors Give Birth” training with Elizabeth Johnson, Durham, NC

  • June 2015: Became “Hypnobabies Childbirth Hypnosis Doula” through Hypnobabies

  • May 2016: Attended “Breastfeeding for Doulas” with Victoria Facelli, IBCLC, Durham, NC

  • May 2016: Completed “How to Help Families get Evidence Based Care” with Rebecca Dekker

  • May 2016: Attended “LGBTQI Care for Birth Professionals” with Victoria Facelli, Durham, NC

  • August 2016: Completed CAPPA Labor Doula Re-Certification

  • June 2017: Touch for Birth Training with Penny Bussell Stansfield, Durham, NC

  • June 2017: Using the TENS in Labor with Penny Bussell Stansfield, Durham, NC

  • February 2018: "Pain Management During Labor" Training with Rebecca Dekker

  • February 2018: "Holding Space for Pregnancy Loss" Training with Amy Wright Glenn, Chapel Hill, NC

  • January 2019: “Friedman’s Curve and Failure to Progress”

  • March 2019: UNC Operating Room Doula Training

  • June 2019: Completed CAPPA Labor Doula Re-Certification

  • July 2019: Seminar “Evidence on Circumcision”

  • September 2019: “Transgenerational Trauma: Impacts on Mental and Physical Health”

  • September 2019: “High Stress Communication for Birth Pros”

  • September 2019: “After a Traumatic Birth”

  • November 2019: “Evidence on Big Babies” with Rebecca Dekker

  • February 2020: “The Evidence on Natural Induction”

  • May 2020: “Evidence for VBAC”

  • August 2020: Advanced Advocacy Workshop with Traci Weafer

  • December 2020: “The Use of Southern Traditional Herbs During Pregnancy & Postpartum”

  • December 2020: DTI Birth Doula Path II Training

  • February 2021: “Supporting Trans and Gender Nonconforming Birthers” with Trystan Reese

  • March 2021: “Black TransMasculine Fertility and Birth workshop” with Kayden Coleman

  • May 2021: Breaking Through Implicit Bias in Maternal Healthcare

  • July 2021: Completed Doula Training International (DTI) Birth Doula Certification

  • March 2022: The Home Birth Doula Master Class

  • May 2022: Completed Hypnobabies® Childbirth Hypnosis Instructor Training

  • April 2023: Supporting Plus Size Pregnancy Training

  • August 2023: DTI Patient Advocacy Masterclass

  • October 2023: Evidence on Breech Births Seminar

  • January 2024: After a “Bad Birth,” Help for Birth Professionals, with Krysta Dancy