Susan has spent many years serving families in the birth world, offering compassionate, steady support as a doula and advocate. Her dedication led her to co-found Motherhood Matters alongside Sara Rausch, where her work quickly grew and deepened. As her client base expanded, so did her desire to reach more families in a meaningful way. That’s when she connected with Kenzie.

What began as a practical solution - working together as co-doulas - quickly became something much more. Their partnership felt natural, seamless, and deeply aligned. Together, they discovered the power of shared care: showing up as a team, supporting one another, and providing families with consistent, compassionate support from more than one trusted presence. They loved the way this model allowed them to care more fully for the families they served.

When Susan retired from hands-on doula care, she entrusted the expansion of this vision to Kenzie.  Kenzie carried it forward, building QC Doula Connect, a community of doulas working collaboratively to support more families across the Quad Cities Area. Through this model, they’ve been able to expand access to doula care and ensure families feel supported, known, and cared for throughout their journeys.

But as the work grew, so did their awareness: not every journey unfolds the way families hope.

With experience in both birth and bereavement support, Kenzie and the QC Doula Connect team recognized a deeper need, to be there not only for joyful beginnings, but also for heartbreak, uncertainty, and loss. They saw how often families facing difficult pregnancies or infant loss felt unprepared, unsupported, and unsure of their options.

They knew they could do more. Kenzie and Susan created QC Doula Connect Cares to meet families in those moments. This non-profit extends their mission beyond traditional doula care — ensuring that families navigating loss, bereavement birth, or unexpected outcomes have access to compassionate support, education, and tangible resources. From continuous doula care to thoughtfully prepared care packages, their goal is simple: no family should have to walk through these experiences alone.

At the heart of QCdc Cares is a commitment to honoring every story. To holding space for grief and hope, often at the same time. To supporting families not just in how their journey begins, but in wherever it leads.

This is more than an extension of their work. It’s the heart of it.