Our Team
Susanna B. Gatz
Susanna found her true passion when she stumbled onto the birth doula path. She trained with The Long Island Doula Association and went on to become a council member with them. Over the years she has been blessed to attend many births as both a doula and homebirth midwife assistant. Each time she has walked away with a greater knowledge base and more and more love for her work. Susanna is the founder of Birthside Doulas and is thrilled to watch the group grow into a family.
“I absolutely love working with expectant people and helping them navigate their journey. By forming this group, we aim to help even more families on Long Island. There is power in numbers. There is love within a community. There is strength in family.” Susanna is also a certified placenta specialist through APPA, a RPYT & RYT 200 offering private & group yoga classes, a Reiki practitioner, Closing of the Bones facilitator, and a certified Sacred Belly Bind Artist.
Melissa Mapes
Melissa Mapes is an Earth Worker by day and Birth Worker by night. Mapes was born and raised in East Hampton, and is now homesteading in a Victorian home in downtown Riverhead with her three children, her supportive husband, and three dogs.
She is an avid naturalist and environmentalist who combines her love for nature into powerful birth work that reminds humanity of its wild roots. She trained as a Birth Doula under Traditional Doula and Midwifery Arts and has completed her Childbirth Educator training as well as a second Birth Doula certification through Birth and Beyond Resources.
She takes a dedicated pride in helping families become empowered by their birth experiences.
