About Us.

Ancestral wisdom meets modern care.

ITOA Birth & Holistic Wellness offers full-spectrum doula services that blend modern, evidence-based care with the deep wisdom of our ancestors. Rooted in the birth traditions and spiritual practices that have supported our communities for generations, we provide culturally responsive care that empowers birthing individuals, non-gestational partners, and their communities. We honor and support all families—whether you're navigating pregnancy, adoption, surrogacy, or unique family dynamics—offering personalized care beyond the confines of cis-heteronormative expectations. From prenatal education to continuous labor support, we help you prepare for birth with a focus on your physical, spiritual, and emotional well-being. After birth, we offer comprehensive postpartum care, including infant feeding support, newborn care, and emotional guidance to help you navigate this transformative time. Our services also include meal prep and light housework, ensuring that you’re fully supported in the early weeks. By merging ancestral knowledge with contemporary non-clinical support practices, we honor the traditions that kept our communities thriving long before Western medicine and ensure that you receive the best of both worlds, helping you feel grounded and confident every step of the way.

Meet Your Future Full-Spectrum Doula!

My name is Kiersten Gillette-Pierce, MSPH. I have a wealth of experience in the global health arena, having lived and worked in various countries. I am now happily located in my hometown of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. In 2016, I finished my Bachelor of Science (BS) in Public Health and Women, Gender, and Sexualities studies at American University in Washington, DC, before working in various policy, research, and organizing positions in the reproductive health, rights, and justice fields. I did two Peace Corps tours in both Togo and Ethiopia as a maternal health lead at two amazing rural public health clinics, working to implement respectful maternity care programming, birth plans, and support groups for expectant parents in the primary clinic and satellite clinics in their catchment areas. After Peace Corps, I worked as a trainer at AccessMatters in Philadelphia, PA, creating trainings around implicit racial and gender bias in urban birthing hospitals and clinical settings. Last year, I completed my Master of Science in Public Health (MSPH) in Maternal, Fetal, and Perinatal Health and Gender and Sexualities studies at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. I have always known birthwork was my calling, and I have trained as a nursing assistant, certified clinical medical assistant, doula, and more to support birthing individuals better. I completed my general doula training with DONA International and my full-spectrum doula training with Birthing Advocacy Doula Trainings (BADT).

With experience shadowing traditional birth attendants in both Togo, West Africa, and Ethiopia, as well as experience as a doula in one of Louisiana’s most prestigious healthcare institutions, Gillette finds their purpose in merging clinical and traditional approaches to improve Black reproductive health and pregnancy outcomes, as a doula, a researcher, a public health practitioner, and most importantly, as an Àwọn Akẹ́kọ̀ọ́ Ọ̀rọ̀ Ọlọ́run, or student of Creation and the Ancestors.

With the end goal of becoming a gender-affirming, culturally-responsive OB/GYN and traditional midwife, in my current role as a doula, my work is to provide non-clinical support, uplift the value of a full birth team that includes non-clinical support personnel, and, most notably, support all birthing individuals along their journeys by promoting respectful, affirming, culturally-responsive care and clinical interactions.