Board Members
Melissa Cheyney, PhD, LDM
Board President
Melissa Cheyney PhD, LDM is a Professor of Clinical Medical Anthropology at Oregon State University (OSU) and a community midwife. She co-directs Uplift—a research and reproductive equity laboratory at OSU, where she serves as the Primary Investigator on more than 20 maternal and infant health-related research projects, including the Community Doula Program. She is the author of an ethnography entitled Born at Home (2010, Wadsworth Press), co-editor with Robbie Davis-Floyd of Birth in Eight Cultures (2019, Waveland Press), and author or co-author of more than 60 peer-reviewed articles that examine the cultural beliefs and clinical outcomes associated with midwife-attended birth at home and in birth centers in the United States. In 2019, Dr. Cheyney served on the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine’s Birth Settings in America Study and in 2020 was named Eminent Professor by OSUs Honors College. She also received Oregon State University’s prestigious Scholarship Impact Award for her work in the International Reproductive Health Laboratory and with the Midwives Alliance of North America (MANA) Statistics Project. She is the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Birth: Issues in Perinatal Care and the mother of a daughter born at home on International Day of the Midwife in 2009.
Rocio Badger
Rocio Badger has supported mothers, babies, and families for more than two decades through childbirth education, postpartum and lactation care, and more, with a special focus on assisting Spanish-speaking families. She has served for 20 years as a Maternity Care Coordinator with Samaritan Health Services in both Albany (OR) and Corvallis, where she supports Spanish-speaking pregnant women and families. Rocio is an International Childbirth Education Certified Childbirth Educator, providing childbirth preparation classes in Spanish, and has been a Qualified Oregon Health Care Interpreter since 2020. She interprets for the Lactation Specialist, she completed the training as Educator for Evergreen Hospital Medical Center, WA. In 2012, Rocio founded Juntas Con Esperanza, a postpartum stress support group for mothers. She has provided marriage and family support as the coordinator of Familias Luminosas/Luminous Families at St. Mary’s Church, where she has volunteered on behalf of families for 29 years. Rocio holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Roman Languages/French from the University of Oregon.
Ali Lape, THW Doula
Ali Lape she/her/hers CPM, BS BioCultural Anthropology. I am a THW Doula, a doula with the Community Doula Program, a Peer Review Coordinator, and a member of the board. I am a student at OSU working on my MA in Applied Anthropology. I study the label high-risk and what it means to pregnant people and how it influences decision-making for their birth location. I live in Corvallis, OR and am mom to two teenagers.
Robin Murbach
Robin Murbach is an active retiree with interests in travel, hiking, reading and volunteering. She lives in Albany Oregon with her husband, Tim and Tucker the cat. Robin has volunteered for many organizations over the years, including hospice, United Way, and Boulder PD victim’s advocate. Robin retired 5 years ago from Republic Services where she held many positions over twenty-two years, ending as an area director for three northwest states.
Valentina Sores, Doula and Home Visitor
Valentina (Tina) ha trabajado con el programa de Familias Saludables desde 2017 y tiene Licenciaturas en Psicología. Tina tambien ha trabahado de maestra y con el programa de Intervención Temprana. Su primer idioma es el portugués. Ella aprendió inglés y español en los Estados Unidos. Tina está trabajando para obtener su certificación como Doula, y también es copresidente del Comité Asesor Hispano del Linn-Benton. (Linn_Benton Hispanic Advisory Committee) El Corazón de Tina se llena de felicidad cuando está sirviendo a su comunidad Hispana y trabajando con las familias del programa “Familias Saludables”. Su fortaleza está en la educación para padres y jardinería.