About
Here Together
Birth Services
The idea behind the name "Here Together" is to highlight the importance of being in the moment with those around you. As a pregnant person, "here" can look like the continual practice of coming back to the moment, being with your breath, and with your baby. It can also look like tuning into your labor as the waves (contractions) arrive and surrendering to them one at a time until your baby is with you. "Together" speaks to the bonds that shape this journey—between you and your baby, you and your partner, or you and your supportive doula.
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Pregnancy, labor, and becoming a parent is a transformative time in one's life that deserves present awareness from those caring for them.
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My hope with Here Together Birth Services is to support women and birthing people in taking care of themselves through movement, meeting other pregnant people, and going through pregnancy and birth itself!
About Toria
Welcome! I’m so glad you’re here!
My name is Victoria, but feel free to call me Toria (she/ella). I am a birth worker, yoga teacher, artist, wife, and mama. My journey into birth work began in 2020 when I felt a deep calling toward family and supporting others through pregnancy and birth. While my husband and I didn’t grow our human family just yet, we did welcome our beloved pup, Ramona, and I began my graduate studies in Art Education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. As I pursued my passion for art, I found myself drawn to birth stories, devouring books and podcasts, and learning about doulas. That spring, I took a holistic doula training with Whapio of The Matrona, and it deeply resonated with me—it was the beginning of my journey.​
Eager to connect with my local birth community, I reached out to doulas in the area, and over time, I and two other like-minded individuals co-founded BIPOC for Better Birth (BBB) in 2021. This nonprofit was created to provide free and low-cost birth worker training for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. My work with BBB was incredibly fulfilling—I helped develop doula training curricula, organized local birth-centered events, managed administrative tasks, and even cooked nourishing meals for our training session. During this time, I deepened my understanding of birth support, by shadowing doulas and a homebirth midwifery team to learn firsthand what it means to hold space for laboring people.
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Now, I’m a mother to a beautiful baby girl. After having the privilege to walk the path of pregnancy and labor, I feel more ready than ever to support our community of mamas and pregnant people with care, knowledge, and compassion.
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If you’re seeking movement and mindfulness during pregnancy, join me for prenatal yoga! (Click here to learn about my offerings).
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If you’re in Urbana-Champaign and looking for one-on-one doula support, let’s connect and see if we’re a good fit! (Click here to learn more about my offerings).​
Education & Training:
Prenatal and Postnatal YTT, Bliss Baby Yoga 2025
Certified Full Spectrum Doula, Sokana Collective 2023
Attendance at an 8hr Spinning Babies Workshop led by Tammy Ryan 2023
Master of Education in Art Education (EdM), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 2022
Certified Holistic Doula, The Matrona 2020
200-hr yoga certification, Chi-town Shakti Yoga + Meditation 2020
Bachelor’s degree in Sociology, Loyola University Chicago 2020