Our Advisory Board

We are proud to have a variety of professionals that make up the Birth Boot Camp Advisory Board. These women have been touched by their own experiences with natural birth and are ready to serve you.

Donna Ryan
Founder and President

With the un-medicated birth of her second baby in 1999, Donna was transformed!  Giving birth naturally began a journey and desire to help other women have empowering births.  Since 2003, she has had the honor of working with and teaching hundreds of couples through natural childbirth education classes.  Advocacy is also a part of Donna’s passion. She is the co-founder of the Tarrant County Birth Network, Fort Worth, Texas, growing it to be the largest chapter of BirthNetwork National.  On a personal level, she has given birth to four beautiful babies in a variety of settings, with three types of care providers and in four different positions! On the side, she writes a blog called Banned From Baby Showers.  She is incredibly humbled by the opportunity to work with an amazing group of women to bring Birth Boot Camp curriculum to the world.

Shannon Blackwell
Marketing

Shannon Blackwell has over 15 years experience in professional marketing with an emphasis on small business. She has trained over 400 small business owners in marketing their new and growing businesses. As a birth activist, Shannon has facilitated thousands of dollars in funding for local and national birth organizations.

Sarah Clark, BBCI
Curriculum Development

Sarah Clark has long been passionate and outspoken about the joy and beauty involved in natural birth. After taking a natural birth class before her first child was born, she felt the need to share the knowledge that had helped her achieve a natural birth with other women. She has taught natural birth classes since 2008 and had four natural births. A writer, Sarah is probably best known for her active work on her natural birth and mothering blog, Mama Birth. She has been published in several natural birth related magazines and is a regular contributor on the Mothering Magazine blog. As part of the Birth Boot Camp Advisory Board, Sarah helps train teachers on the art of communicating natural birth knowledge and helps develop content for teachers and students.

April Francom, BBCI
Instructor Certification

April Francom has been passionate about motherhood since before her first natural birth in 1999. With a Bachelor’s degree in Education, April brings over 16 years of experience to Birth Boot Camp from various educational pursuits, including owning a preschool. April has given countless hours of service to her local birth network and twice organized a community Birth Fair, helping to raise thousands of dollars. She enjoys working with those who desire to become Birth Boot Camp instructors; guiding them along the path to certification.

Alexa Gumm, BBCI, CD(DONA)
Recruiter

Alexa Gumm is a wife of fifteen years to Joe and mother to their four little ladies. In 1999 she earned a Bachelor of Science in Interior Design from Texas Christian University. Since her first daughter’s joyous birth in 2001 she has felt obligated to share the beauty and innate strength of women that occurs in natural birth and in 2010 became a DONA certified birth doula. One of her favorite places to be is assisting families during the births of their precious babies. In 2011, she was invited to join a powerhouse group of women as a Chapter Leader with the Tarrant County Birth Network in Fort Worth, Texas. Her role included recruiting sponsors for community birth events and media relations. A natural born networker, these skills perfectly complement her position as a recruiter for Birth Boot Camp. She genuinely enjoys people and considers her work as a birth advocate and hopefully, one day as a midwife, her life’s calling. Alexa is also one of our Birth Boot Camp Instructors based in the Tampa Bay area of Florida where her husband is a morning news anchor for CBS.

Ceci Massa
Videographer

Ceci Massa is an acclaimed birth photographer and videographer working in the Dallas/ Fort Worth metroplex. She leads birth photography/videography workshops in conjunction with other leaders in her field through Birth Stories 101. A former chapter leader in her local birth network, Ceci has been advocating for Mother-friendly care since the birth of her first child.

Melody Morrow, CPM, LM, BBCI

Melody Morrow, CPM, LM loves babies and birth. Since 1998 she has attended over 1,100 births and assisted in the training of over 70 midwifery students. She is passionate about preventative, respectful care for mothers, babies, and their families. Melody works in Texas at Edenway Birth Center as the administrator and senior consulting midwife. She is enthusiastic about her calling and loves to help empower families as they become informed and educated about their choices during their maternity and birth experiences.

Hannah Reasoner, BBCI, LMT, CD(DONA)

Hannah Reasoner is passionate about pregnancy, childbirth, and the amazing journey of motherhood. With education and training in the areas of Massage Therapy, Acupressure, Birth and Postpartum Doula Services, Holistic Nutrition, Fertility, and Childbirth, Hannah has cared for and served the many needs of pregnant women and growing families since 2005. Hannah enjoys growing her business, Intuitive Mothering, and lives with her family in Fort Worth, Texas.

Mellanie Sheppard, ICBLC, RLC, BBCI

Mellanie Sheppard, IBCLC is a lactation consultant in private practice with more than 12 years experience working with breastfeeding families. She is an avid proponent of educating expectant families on Mother-Friendly Childbirth and a co-founder and leader of the Tarrant County Birth Network. A leader in her field, Mellanie frequently presents at conferences and events on topics including breastfeeding the special needs infant, the effects of induction of labor on breastfeeding, and how birth and breastfeeding are inter-connected.