Richmond Leadership Team

Jennifer Kyzer

Mother of two, wife, dog trainer (www.dogtalkrichmond.com), former teacher, Director of Richmond Birth Matters since 2011, Facilitator of Birth Talk Birth Circle since 2008 (www.facebook.com/BirthTalkRVA), the birth of my son - unmedicated VBAC led me to work in birth - wanted to give back to the village/community that helped get to amazing VBAC birth I had, trained as a ToLabor Doula, have been a member and part of the Leadership team of Birth Matters since 2007.

Alexis Scott

My name is Alexis and I am a middle school reading specialist. Leading up to the birth of my son, I started to learn about natural childbirth and what to expect out of the process of having a hospital birth in general. After he was born, I felt led to engage myself in the birth community, in order to educate families about birth options and empower other families to work towards birth experiences that they hoped for.

Laura Smith 

Laura Smith is a wife and mother of three sons, who works as a social worker in the Richmond area.  Laura was trained as a doula by ALACE (toLabor) in November 2008.  Having personally experienced unmedicated childbirth under the care of obstetricians and a midwife, with the support of a doula, in both the hospital and home setting, Laura believes that birth should be an empowering experience for mothers and their partners.  Laura firmly believes in the mission of Birth Matters to promote an evidence-based model of maternity care and to support women and families to make informed birth choices.

Amy Depcrynski Lavelle

Amy is a mother, wife and works as a research scientist with her doctorate in Human Genetics. Leading up to her daughter's birth she developed a passion for evidence-based maternity care and natural birth options. Amy is a toLabor trained doula and works with Virginia Birth Matters to share that passion and provide other women with the education and opportunity to make informed decisions regarding their own pregnancies and births.

McRae Brittingham

McRae Brittingham is a wife and mother of one who has been operating a small childcare business out of her home since 2005. She has a BS in Business but was unimpressed by the corporate world so she decided to go into daycare to follow her heart by working with babies. Leading up to the birth of her son she knew she wanted to avoid a cesarean section but waited until very late in the pregnancy to hire a doula and to research natural birth. Since the unmedicated birth of her son in the hospital in 2009 she has wanted to be involved in the birth community to empower women through educating them about options for their birth. McRae was trained as a doula by ToLabor, attended a childbirth educator workshop and became a part of the Birth Matters Richmond Leadership Team in the winter of 2011.

Ashley Larsen 

I am a Professional Birth and Postpartum Doula and also a mother of three. I have been providing services to childbearing families in RVA for over a year. I came into birth work through a culmination of people and experiences, including my own birth experience. I believe that birth work is my calling and the passion I have for it grows every day. Being able to provide support, education and advocacy for families during their most intimate times is the most rewarding and humbling "job" I have ever known. 

Abby Dini

Abby Dini was born and raised in the Northeast where she attended the State University of New York's College at Old Westbury and earned her B.A. in Psychology before moving to Richmond with her husband to pursue her Masters Degree in Social Work at VCU. While at VCU, she focused her research on women's health and had a professor who was extremely influential in Abby's decision to pursue her passion for women's health as a profession. Abby is also a trained doula which has helped educate her about holistic natural birth. As a social worker, Abby understands how important it is to empower women and the effect their birth experience will have on them and their families. When Abby is not busy working she volunteers with CARE USA, travels to Guatemala (to learn from the midwives), loves spending time with her husband and friends, going to the gym, watching movies and doing everything she can to avoid folding laundry.