Who We Are

We are a team of NorthWest based 
highly qualified doulas.
What is a doula?
.The word "doula" comes from the ancient Greek meaning "a woman who serves" and is now used to refer to a trained and experienced professional who provides continuous physical, emotional and informational support to the mother before, during and just after birth; or who provides emotional and practical support during the postpartum period.

Studies have shown that when doulas attend birth, labors are shorter with fewer complications, babies are healthier and they breastfeed more easily.
Who are we?
We are Sursum Corda -a team of DONA certified doulas with extensive experience in prenatal and postpartum care as well as labor and delivery support. We are also educators that can provide extensive birth education and lactation support. We see ourselves as your dedicated support throughout prenatal, labor, delivery and postpartum care until the baby is three months old (but our relationship with our clients extends well beyond that). We take a limited number of clients so that we can be deeply invested in each one. ​

Our beginnings
The first birth that Erin Iwata (co-founder of Sursum Corda) attended was a home water birth where the infant was born in the caul (the bag of water never broke and birthed intact) . She was just 15 years old and it changed her perception of birth forever. Her interest for birth grew as she unofficially attended numerous births.  After the birth of her third and final child, and with the encouragement of the equally passionate Heather Robertson, Erin  decided to become a certified doula.   With the partnership of Heather and Erin, Sursum Corda was formed. All doulas at Sursum Corda have gone through the rigors of DONA international's training prior to 2012. We are all women and mothers who are genuine about of the sacred act of child bearing.

We love meeting new families!
Let's get started.
Although we only take one client per month per doula, we have a number of other services we offer available to as many families as we can accommodate. We would love to hear from you!