About Us
Grace Midwifery offers women, and their families, both home and cottage birth in the Shenandoah Valley. Our goal is to build community and connection through maternity care. We, as a team, seek to provide each family in our care, with professional yet intimate relationships as we serve them through antepartum, intrapartum, and postpartum. We strive to improve maternal and newborn outcomes for low-risk women. We believe that women and their families should be supported and empowered in their birthing experience. We offer informed decision making throughout the entirety of your care. We are committed and eager to serve women holistically, in mind, body, and spirit.
Doran Richards | Senior Midwife
Doran Richards is a Certified Professional Midwife who seeks to enable women to discover, recognize, and experience their preferred birth outcomes. She has been serving women through midwifery for the last 20 years. Before starting a private practice in 2012, Doran received her certification from the North American Registry of Midwives where she became a Preceptor in 2015 and received her bridge certificate in 2016. She is licensed under the Board of Medicine in the state of Virginia. She has also been a member of the National Association of Certified Professional Midwives since 2011, and the Virginia Midwives Alliance since 2005.
Doran currently owns and practices midwifery at Grace Midwifery in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, where she also trains student midwives to provide women with a broad range of care from well-woman to pre and postnatal care, including newborn care and assessment. She speaks at and organizes midwifery and yoga conferences, and authored the Maidens by His Design curriculum for girls and mothers, the goal of which is to open doors for them to discuss women’s health. Her own difficult first delivery story led her to become passionate about serving women and changing the landscape of birth in her state and in the United States.
Doran lives in Virginia, where she also enjoys practicing Holy Yoga at her studio Holy Yoga of the Shenandoah Valley and creating beautiful art. She has been married to her husband, Daniel, for almost 30 years and is the mother of 6 beautiful children here on earth.
Denyse Phelps | Birth Assistant + Student Midwife
I was born and raised in Frederick County, Virginia and currently reside on a family farm. I am the proud mother of 2 beautiful grown redheads and the Nini of 3 boys. I have been married for 27 years to my high school sweetheart.
I have a very diverse background in education. I was a doula and childbirth educator for about 10 years and then made the move into public education, but have decided to return to my place of joy–serving families and the miracle of birth.
In my free time, I spend time with my family, work in my greenhouses/garden, love the outdoors, health coaching, and sipping coffee as I journal or read. I am passionate about learning and consider myself a life-long learner.
Morgan Williams | Ministry Office Manager
In March 2024, Morgan stepped into the position of Ministry Office Manager. Morgan grew up in Ashburn, Virginia before moving to the Shenandoah Valley in 2008. She harbors a strong enthusiasm for delving into learning about holistic healthcare methods and improving the dissemination of mental health and mindfulness awareness. Morgan, who is married to a Deputy Sheriff and a mother of one, finds joy in family time (including her three dogs), a good cup of coffee, participating in Bible study, and immersing herself in captivating books.