Our Story
Gina Durant, Founder
Beginning
Every movement begins with many moments. For Gina, these moments took shape across three distinct birth experiences.
During her first birth, she felt overwhelmed, isolated, and uncertain of how to advocate for herself within a complex system. A similar story unfolded during her second. Driven to find a better way, Gina sought out evidence-based care and aligned support for her third birth, resulting in a deeply empowering, respectful experience that transformed her life and ignited her purpose.
That transformation launched a 20-year career on the front lines of maternal and family support.
Gina spent 15 years as a birth and postpartum doula. She attended births in hospitals across Western New York, birthing centers, and homebirths, as well as volunteering in refugee communities on Buffalo’s west side. Driven by gaps she witnessed, she became a co-leader of the International Cesarean Awareness Network, ran a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) support group, and became an Evidence Based Birth® Instructor.
Helping families through vulnerable transitions within a complex system taught Gina a vital truth: compassionate care is essential, but systemic change requires true informed consent, evidence-based family-centered care, and seamless collaboration between systems.
She recognized that doula support must be anchored in empathy and collaborative partnership within healthcare systems. She also recognized by navigating doula work alone, that doulas need to support and collaborate with one another to provide the best possible care for families.
To meet these needs, Gina founded the Buffalo Doula Collective and grew a training program in WNY. She built the education, community and support systems she wished she had as a mother, and then as a new doula - a team dedicated to inclusive, collaborative, and evidence-based care for all families.
The Growth
As doulas trained in Gina’s framework began transforming outcomes in their own communities, a broader national vision emerged.
DoulaBrella & DoulaBrella Network bring Gina’s mission to life. Rooted in advocacy, empathy, collaboration, and community, the expanding network empowers compassionate and respectful birth and postpartum care for every family in any setting, while supporting every doula who provides it.
DoulaBrella Institute enables this support for all families seeking it. The dedicated non-profit initiative expands access to birth and postpartum doula training and support in the communities that need it most.
Our Future
Today, DoulaBrella’s mission is shared by a mother-daughter team: Gina and her daughter, Amelia Varney.
Bringing together complementary strengths, deep personal connection, and a shared dedication to family-centered care, Gina and Amelia embody the core of the DoulaBrella philosophy:
Every family, anywhere they choose to give birth, deserves care that is personal, respectful, and empowering.
Together with a care network of dedicated birth professionals, they are building a national movement rooted in community, professional integrity, and lasting impact.
