About Us

Grace Midwifery offers women, and their families, both home and cottage birth in the Shenandoah Valley. Our goal is to build community and connection through maternity care. We, as a team, seek to provide each family in our care, with professional yet intimate relationships as we serve them through antepartum, intrapartum, and postpartum. We strive to improve maternal and newborn outcomes for low-risk women. We believe that women and their families should be supported and empowered in their birthing experience. We offer informed decision making throughout the entirety of your care. We are committed and eager to serve women holistically, in mind, body, and spirit.

Doran Richards

Senior Midwife, CPM, LM

Doran Richards is a Certified Professional Midwife with over 20 years of experience, dedicated to helping women achieve their desired birth experiences. Certified by the North American Registry of Midwives, she became a Preceptor in 2015 and received her bridge certificate in 2016. She is licensed in Virginia and has been active in midwifery organizations since 2005.

Since 2012, Doran has run Grace Midwifery in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, where she also trains student midwives and provides comprehensive care for women and newborns.

She organizes and speaks at midwifery and yoga conferences and authored Maidens by His Design, a curriculum to foster conversations between mothers and daughters about women’s health.

Inspired by her own difficult first birth, Doran is passionate about transforming birth experiences in the U.S. She also teaches Holy Yoga, creates art, and lives in Virginia with her husband of over 30 years and their six children.

Denyse Phelps

Phase III Student Midwife

Denyse was born and raised in Frederick County, Virginia, and lives on the family farm. She is a proud mom of two grown redheads, Nini to three grandsons, and has been married to her high school sweetheart for over two decades.

Denyse’s background includes nearly a decade as a doula and childbirth educator, followed by time in public education. She has returned to her passion—supporting families through the miracle of birth.

In her free time, she enjoys gardening, health coaching, spending time outdoors, and quiet moments with coffee, a journal, or a good book. Denyse is a lifelong learner, and is guided by faith and family in all she does.

Clare Muczynski

Phase I Student Midwife

Clare grew up in Southeast Michigan and moved to the Shenandoah Valley to pursue her BA at Christendom College. She transferred to Mercy In Action College of Midwifery in 2024 and is pursuing her Bachelor’s of Science in Midwifery while fulfilling her clinical requirements with the team at Grace Midwifery.

Clare was inspired to pursue studies in midwifery after writing a research paper and presentation on the benefits of unmedicated birth. When not studying midwifery, Clare enjoys spending time with her family and two young nieces, working as a nanny, making sourdough from scratch, and creating embroidery patterns for her small business Feminine Catholic Co..

P.S. You can support her midwifery journey by shopping on her Etsy page at: femininecatholicco.etsy.com