We work as a team at the Sierra Natural Birth Center. Every birth will have the presence of at least two attendants, one of whom will be a Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM), and a Licensed Midwife (LM), a Registered Nurse (RN), or an AABC Certified Birth Assistant (CBA).
Ellen “Ellie” Jasmer – CNM, RN, LM
Midwife Ellie with Baby Ellie ~ the first baby born at Sierra Natural Birth Center.
Ellie has devoted her life to caring for mothers and babies since 1976. Her journey into midwifery began after the loss of her first pregnancy, when she realized how little she understood about her own body and pregnancy. Determined to learn everything she could before becoming pregnant again, she began reading the early writings of Ina May Gaskin and soon knew that she was called to become a midwife. Ellie attended her first birth in June 1976.
During her early years, Ellie traveled throughout the Sierra foothills and Central Valley, attending families in their homes. She later became a Licensed Midwife and then a Certified Nurse Midwife. Over the course of her career, she has helped welcome more than 1,200 babies into the world.
Ellie is the mother of two adult children, both born at home. In 1993, she married her husband, Tim, and together they share a blended family that includes their adult children, 11 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
For more than 20 years, Ellie has also enjoyed mentoring, teaching, and precepting aspiring midwives. She has welcomed students and newer midwives into her practice, sharing not only her knowledge and experience but also her deep respect for the art of midwifery and the families it serves. Many of these professional relationships have grown into lasting friendships. Ellie considers it a privilege to encourage the next generation of midwives and help carry this work forward.
Ellie’s longtime dream of creating a peaceful, comfortable place where families could receive personal care and give birth close to home became a reality with the opening of Sierra Natural Birth Center in June 2014.
At the heart of Ellie’s work is a simple belief: every mother and baby should feel loved, safe, and genuinely cared for. Her approach combines compassionate, relationship-based care with education and respect for each family’s individual needs. She wants women and their partners to feel informed, supported, and confident throughout pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum season.
Mary Sponsler- APRN, CNM
“I believe birth is more than a medical event—it is a sacred rite of passage that has the power to shape a woman for the rest of her life.”
As a Registered Nurse since 1992 and a Certified Nurse-Midwife since 2024, Mary has spent her career caring for women through every season of the childbearing years. At Sierra Natural Birth Center, she provides full-scope midwifery care with a deep respect for physiologic birth, evidence-based practice, and the wisdom of the female body.
As the mother of four adult children—all born at home—Mary knows firsthand the beauty of giving birth in an environment that is peaceful, personal, and centered on the needs of the mother and baby. She believes every woman deserves to be an active participant in her care—not simply a patient, but the primary decision-maker throughout her pregnancy, labor, birth, and postpartum journey.
Mary’s passion is helping women discover confidence in the incredible design of their bodies while providing the knowledge, encouragement, and skilled care needed to keep mothers and babies safe. She loves equipping women to make informed decisions and creating a space where they feel heard, respected, and empowered.
Mary has been married to her husband, Seth, since 1995. Together, they have raised four incredible children and now delight in the joy of their growing family of grandchildren. She considers it an honor to serve the families of her community and to witness, again and again, the quiet miracle of new life.
Dody Rogers – LM, Doula
Dody’s journey in birth work began in 1973 during a hospital stay following the birth of her first child. After hearing another woman screaming out during childbirth, Dody felt compelled to help her and other women through the experience of birth. What began as a desire to support women has grown into more than five decades of dedication to mothers, babies, and families.
Throughout her career, Dody has served as a childbirth educator, doula, midwife assistant, and midwife, supporting families through births in both home and hospital settings across the United States. She became a Licensed Midwife in 2012.
Ellie and Dody each maintained their own independent home birth midwifery practices, but they often worked together, supporting one another and attending births as a team. Dody was also one of the founding midwives of Sierra Natural Birth Center. Since the Birth Center opened in 2014, she has primarily provided postpartum midwifery care while also offering education and doula support and serving as a second midwife at births.
In 2025, Dody stepped away from maintaining her own home birth practice so she could focus more deeply on the areas of care she is most passionate about: postpartum support, education, doula care, and serving as a second midwife. She continues to be a deeply valued member of the Sierra Natural Birth Center community.
Dody lives in Sonora, California, with her husband of more than 50 years, Craig. They have three grown children, two of whom were born at home, and they are the proud grandparents of eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
Outside of birth work, Dody enjoys flowers, reading, history, and spending time with her growing family.
Karly Penton – RNC-OB, IBCLC, Doula
After more than 17 years in Labor & Delivery, I’ve been invited into some of the most beautiful, difficult, and deeply personal moments a family can experience. I’ve supported women through joyful births, unexpected turns, and the heartbreak of loss. Those experiences taught me that feeling safe, heard, and supported can make an enormous difference in how a woman and her family experience birth.
I am a mom of two, and both of my children were born in a hospital setting. I truly believe you can have the birth you want in any setting. My own experiences helped me understand that the environment matters, but having the right people beside you can make all the difference.
For me, the real struggle came after birth. I remember those overwhelming early days with a crying newborn, exhaustion, and cracked, bleeding nipples, wondering why breastfeeding was so much harder than I expected. After finding a knowledgeable IBCLC and receiving the support and resources I needed, I knew I wanted to understand more. Nursing school and my career had given me a strong foundation, but I wanted to be able to offer families more. That journey led me to UC San Diego and ultimately to becoming an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC).
Today, I’m honored to bring all of these experiences together through my work with Sierra Natural Birth Center, where I support families as a Certified Registered Nurse, Lactation Consultant, and Birth and Postpartum Doula. I have also built my own practice Peaks Lactation, where I continue to provide individualized lactation, postpartum, and birth support to families throughout our community. As well as part time as a Labor and Delivery RNC at Adventist Health Sonora.
Serving families in Tuolumne, Calaveras, Stanislaus, Merced, and Mariposa Counties. As well as telehealth in the United States.
Kayleen Delgado – Certified Birth Assistant, Doula
Hi, I’m Kayleen Delgado! I’ve always had a deep love for pregnancy, birth, and the beautiful strength of women.
My journey into birth work began when I welcomed my first two daughters at Sierra Natural Birth Center, with Ellie as my midwife. It was there that I first experienced the beauty of having a doula by my side and discovered how deeply meaningful it can be to gently support a woman through one of the most sacred seasons of her life.
I went on to become a trained doula and certified birth assistant and had the joy of supporting families through hospital, home, and birth center births. I also spent several years working alongside the midwives at Sierra Natural Birth Center.
Then my own birth story took an unexpected and extraordinary turn. I became pregnant with spontaneous quadruplets — three identical girls and one fraternal boy. Ellie, Mary Beth, and another doula lovingly walked beside me throughout my pregnancy, along with an incredible team of doctors. At 29½ weeks, I safely welcomed my four babies by C-section.
That experience forever deepened my heart for mothers. It taught me that birth can be beautiful in so many different ways, and that every woman deserves to feel held, heard, respected, and deeply cared for — no matter how her birth unfolds.
It is such a honor to walk alongside women during this tender, powerful season.
My heart is to offer a gentle presence, unwavering support, and a safe space where every mama feels confident, cherished, and never alone.
Call/text: (209) 352-4224
Email: kaydelgado2009@gmail.com
Grace Cathrein – Certified Pro Doula, CD-L, CD-PIC
From the moment I found out I was pregnant with my first baby at 18 years old, my life began to change in ways I never could have imagined. Coming to the Sierra Natural Birth Center ( SNBC) for my prenatal visits, I found it was more than just prenatal care—I found people who truly loved, supported, and believed in me.
Throughout both of my pregnancies, I experienced compassionate, personalized care that made me feel seen, heard, informed, and safe. Through the journey of motherhood, I also experienced two heartbreaking losses. During those seasons of grief, the SNBC team continued to surround me with the same love, compassion, and support they had shown me from the very beginning. They didn’t just care for me during birth—they cared for me through life, loss, healing, and hope. That kind of love leaves a lasting imprint on your heart.
Each of my births transformed me. Becoming a mother awakened a strength and confidence I never knew I had. It showed me that women are incredibly capable and that birth has the power to change us in the most beautiful ways.
I believe birth is a normal, natural process that deserves to be honored, protected, and respected. While there are times when medical intervention is needed, I believe every family deserves compassionate support, evidence-based information, and someone who will walk beside them with encouragement and without judgment.
The incredible midwives and doulas who cared for me, inspired me to become a doula and to pursue midwifery. They changed the course of my life, and I hope to offer that same sense of peace, confidence, and unwavering support to the families I have the privilege of serving.
I sometimes joke that I’m a “birth nerd” because I truly love everything about pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding, newborns, and the postpartum journey. I love learning, I love teaching when families want guidance, and I love reminding mothers to trust the incredible wisdom already within them.
As a doula, I hope every family I care for feels what I felt all those years ago—that they are loved, supported, respected, and never alone. It is an incredible honor to walk alongside families during one of the most transformative seasons of their lives, and I look forward to serving each one with a gentle heart and open hands.
Currently serving families in Tuolumne County
Contact:
AbitOfGrace.birth@gmail.com
Noella Roselena Baldonado – Certified Holistic Doula
Noella brings a warm, joyful, and deeply compassionate presence to families throughout pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum season. A Certified Holistic Doula with more than 10 years of experience supporting and guiding people through life’s transitions, she grew up in a midwifery household, surrounded by pregnancy, birth, babies, and the wisdom of women caring for women throughout her life.
Her approach blends evidence-based doula care with an intuitive understanding of comfort, nutrition, education, and emotional support. Noella has a special gift for using voice, sound, singing, and music during labor, when desired, creating a calming atmosphere and helping birthing mothers find rhythm, relaxation, and confidence in their own bodies and voices.
Years spent living, teaching, traveling, and working throughout Latin America have also shaped Noella’s appreciation for the many cultural traditions surrounding pregnancy, birth, postpartum healing, and family life. She speaks both English and Spanish and approaches each family with curiosity, respect, and sensitivity to their individual beliefs, traditions, and preferences.
As Sierra Natural Birth Center’s Resident Doula, Noella provides prenatal education and preparation, continuous labor support, postpartum and newborn care, nutrition education, telehealth support, and home visits throughout our rural communities. She works closely with our midwives and maternity-care team so that families can experience familiar, continuous support before, during, and after birth.
Noella is also an artist, musician, educator, and longtime advocate for women and families. She brings all of these parts of herself into her doula work—with gentleness, creativity, humor, and a genuine love for nurturing mothers, babies, and growing families.
Serving families in Tuolumne, Calaveras, and Mariposa Counties.