Meet Our Amazing Doula Team

Mari-Elena Leckel is extremely passionate about supporting, educating, and empowering families during pregnancy, postpartum, and beyond. She was born in New York and is the oldest of three children. Mari became a mother at a young age and met her husband when her daughter was seven years old. With the love and support of her husband and family, and her determination to succeed, she decided to go back to school and went on to graduate from Tufts University with a degree in Sociology. Upon receiving her degree, she began working in law enforcement.

Mari and her husband decided in 2009 to expand their family but were challenged by infertility issues. The next few years were filled with a multitude of doctor visits, moments of excitement and also heartbreak. In 2012, she gave birth to her second daughter and because of the tremendous amount of love and support throughout her journey, she wanted to “somehow, give that back.”  She completed trainings as a Childbirth Educator, Labor and Postpartum Doula through CAPPA (Childbirth and Postpartum Professional Association), Dancing For Birth™ Instructor, Belly Binding Artist and Child Passenger Safety Technician.  She received her Certification in Lactation Counseling and is certified by the Academy of Lactation Policy and Procedure.  Mari is also a Certified Labor and Postpartum & Infant Care Doula, Certified Labor & Postpartum Doula Trainer , Advanced Comfort Measures for Labor Trainer and Infant Feeding Specialist and completed the Labor Doula Masterclass to become a VBAC Specialist through ProDoula.  She has been featured in Pregnancy and Newborn Magazine’s “Ask the Experts”, The Boston Globe, written a blog for Motherly “A Pep Talk to Mamas during Coronavirus”  ,  a press piece for PopSugar, The Everymom and facilitated a workshop on running a successful doula agency at the 2017 annual ProDoula Conference.  In 2018 Mari was invited by a Massachusetts hospital to provide a training to their labor and delivery staff on comfort measures in labor.   Mari received her 200 hour Yoga Teacher certification in May 2019 and helped to create and name the “Doc & Doula” Podcast. She was the Director of Doula Services and built a successful doula agency for Acelleron Maternal Health & Wellness until the company decided to close their doors in October 2017.  Mari and her team had a passion and commitment to continue to support families and Boston Birth Associates was born.

The journey to motherhood is different for everyone but Mari believes every mother and family deserve to be loved, encouraged, educated, and empowered with non-judgmental and unconditional support. Mari considers it an honor and privilege to work with families during such intimate and special moments.