about MOE + Kris Elle
Mother of Ease (MOE) is a Black maternal and family care practice whose principal focus is the birthing experiences of Black Folk.
My private practice is intimately inspired by and devoted to the centering and advancement of safe keeping, space holding, rest promoting, and joy flowing for Black women and their kin/folk. I devote my presence during remarkable life transitions—delivering a culturally-empathetic and individually-tailored approach to address the emotional, educational, physical, and often, spiritual needs that rise during pregnancy, birth, postpartum and early motherhood.
MOE’s presence and my thought leadership in academic spaces and handiwork in community efforts promote the thriving of Black women and Black families on this soil—for the homes and lives they are building. I have been called to this work. God has gifted and fitted me for the deliverance of distinctive support—through firm planting in my ancestral history, family-of-origin narrative, lived experience, learning at the hem of Black women before me, and by wisdom gathered while building my own tribe.
Kris Elle | CD, CLC®
I was born in the Winter of December in Long Beach, CA, to two young Black lovers from Watts and Crenshaw. Raised in the suburbs of Southern California, as the oldest of four, I spent my childhood soaking up the sun and the everyday nuances of Black family life in America. My most cherished university experience was spent as a student at the University of Southern California, before ultimately (have a lot of community college experience in there, too) completing my undergraduate studies at Loyola Marymount University in L.A. with a B.A. in Communication Studies. I’m a researcher and writer at heart - a consistent student. I love nonfiction works and deepening my understanding of histories, preparing loose-leaf tea & tisanes, traveling, reveling in nature, being with the family I’ve helped create, every FaceTime and real time with my dearest girlfriends, and spending good time alone, restorative yoga, watching sophisticated and not so sophisticated shows, baking and eating good food and frequently saying yes to old and new ways of living a life.
I married my best friend and the forever love of my life in Los Angeles in January of 2008 and we’ve since welcomed five beautiful children to complete our family. When I became pregnant with our first child, I was a healthy, college-educated, newly married, twenty-something Black woman with less than desirable health insurance coverage. I quickly found myself at the imposing whims of medical care providers and a hospital community with little interest in my preferences or personhood - from pregnancy to postpartum. After enduring a highly medicalized continuum experience, and suffering from undiagnosed postpartum depression—this womanhood & motherhood of mine inspired my extensive exploration and years of detailed research—and eventual success in finding alternative, respectful, supportive models of care for my future pregnancies, birthing experiences and postpartum healings. It helped build the framework for this particular work I would be called to in my life, for the families who would one day welcome me as their doula.
I have given birth in hospitals and in homes and in three different states - Tennessee, California and Colorado. I have experienced care from OB/GYN’s, CNM’s and CPM’s. I have been financially unwell and pregnant and financially stable and pregnant. I have relied on government health insurance and private health insurance. I have labored with Pitocin and an epidural, and journeyed four births without medical induction or pain medication. I have known long labor, quick labor, and one precipitous labor that led to my husband standing in for the midwife. I’ve studied hypnobirthing on my own and been successful with implementation - my favorite laboring experience. I’ve mothered three, five and under, and five, seven and under. I’ve homeschooled my five children from preschool to now (we have a high-school student, wow!) and strive to flow every bit of everything God graces me with, into my most worthy work and the joy of my life: our family of seven. And humbly, into my work as a Certified Doula and Certified Lactation Counselor.®
Education & Experience
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in Communication Studies | Loyola Marymount University | Los Angeles, CA | 2008
With a collection of units and collegiate experiences at the University of Southern California, Santa Monica College, West Los Angeles Community College, and the Riverside Community College District.
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After college, working for the City of Los Angeles, and marrying my now husband (hey, love) in 2008, we moved away from our beloved Los Angeles, welcomed our first child, and I began mothering and educating at home (and everywhere else).
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2009 | Firstborn | Chattanooga TN | Low + High Risk OB/GYN care, Hospital, Medical Induction of Labor, Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM) assisted
2012 | Secondborn | Chatttanooga TN | Low-Risk CNM care, precipitous labor, hospital, CNM assisted
2014 | Thirdborn | Chattanooga TN | Low-Risk CNM care, precipitous labor, hospital, on-call OB/GYN assisted
2015 | Fourthborn | Riverside CA | CNM care in TN, Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) care in CA, precipitous labor, hypnobirthing, home, called midwife late, husband caught baby, xo
2017 | Fifthborn | Fountain CO | complete out-of-hospital prenatal visits, CPM care, quick labor, hydrotherapy, home, midwife assisted
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Mama Glow Professional Doula Training Program | 2021
One Year Journey to MG Certification
Mama Glow Certified Doula | 2022
Hospital-Based Training | RAO Doula Impact Program | 2022
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Breastfeeding Mother x 5
Healthy Children Project Inc. | 2021
ALPP® Certified Lactation Counselor® | 2022
Mama Glow First Foods Justice Scholar & Advocate | 2024
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Founded | November 2021
First Client | December 2021
Faithful Practice | 2021 - Present
Leadership & Service
