Honoring the Life and Legacy of Penny Simkin (1938-2024)
We honor the life and legacy of Penny Simkin, a true luminary in perinatal health and doula care. As co-founder of DONA International, Penny dedicated over five decades to transforming the childbirth experience, making it more informed, supported, and empowering for families worldwide.
Her journey was fueled by a passion to revolutionize childbirth. Penny's commitment and dedication left an indelible mark on labor support and education, directly assisting countless families through labor as a doula.
As we mourn Penny's loss, we also celebrate her extraordinary life and the countless ways she enriched ours. Her legacy of love, support, and education will live on in the hearts of those she touched and in organizations like ours. Accompany Doula Care exists in part because of Penny's vision and work. Our mission is to seamlessly integrate comprehensive doula support within healthcare systems, enhancing the birthing experience by centering the family’s voice. Through culturally responsive and individualized care, we aim to eradicate birth outcome inequities and foster a robust community doula workforce. Our collaborative efforts aim to make doula care accessible to all families, particularly those who are medically or socially high-risk or who experience discrimination and racism in their care, leading to inequitable outcomes.
We can do this work because of visionaries like Penny. Generations of parents, children, and birth workers are better off because of Penny's life. What a beautiful blessing she's been to this world.
Our heartfelt condolences go out to Penny's family, friends, and all those whose lives she touched deeply.