Hi, I am Jessica

It is with upmost honor and privilege to support Families through such a momentous occasion:

The Birth of their Child.

Since 1998, I have had the honor of working with hundreds of Families. I began my career by babysitting for families on my brother’s Baseball Team when I was a teen. This easily transcended into consistent Summer Nanny jobs and after school postpartum support arrangements. I didn’t know it at the time that I was “doula’ing” new Mothers as offering them care, grace & support all came very natural to me. My Mom was a community based birth worker, a traditional surrogate 3 times, egg donor and very active in the Bay Area birth network. I grew up around many pregnant Mothers and new babies for most of my childhood. I come from a large family of 6 kids and have 5 brothers. As my older Brothers grew up and moved out of the house, our Family did Foster Care- taking in many delicate babies/children in crisis. In the winter of 2002 while in College studying to be an Esthetician and make up artist, I was invited by my older Brother and his Fiancé to support them through the birth of their first baby. I wanted to have all the tools and proper training to best support them so I took a DONA Birth & Postpartum training and became certified. My niece was born just a few months later:
I was instantly hooked.
I quickly learned that skin care and makeup was not going to be my path after all. I finished Beauty School, got my Esthetician License but quickly suspended my plans to open a Med Spa and switched Colleges along with my major: Child Development with a Minor in Pediatric Nutrition. Within months I had a steady stream of Doula Clients as I took more courses and obtained more certifications. Due to an abundance of word of mouth referrals, I opened “A Nanny Solution, Inc.” in March of 2005: a Household staffing, Nanny and Doula Agency. I successfully ran my Agency in California for 7 years as I assisted high profile families and Celebrities hire Night Nurses, professional Nannies, Postpartum Doulas, Private Lactation Consultants, Birth Doulas, Personal Assistants and all Household Staff.  The Agency was the only of its kind to require candidates to submit to a strict screening process including FBI background checks, drug tests, hold professional education and cross referenced all background qualifications. After winning the “Best of the Bay Area” award 6 years in a row, I sold A Nanny Solution Inc. to pursue a full time Doula and Lactation Career, as we grew our Family.
Witnessing that first birth in 2002 lit a fire within me; I have always had a passion for birthing, bonding & Breastfeeding.
I truly believe this is what I am meant to do.
I wear many hats as my credentials include: Trained and Certified Birth & Postpartum Doula with DONA International, Certified VBAC Doula, being a Doula for Twin Cities Birth Center,  Certified HypnoBirthing Doula, Certified Lactation Counselor, Certified Midwife Assistant, Newborn Care Specialist, Certified Childbirth Educator, Certified Infant Sleep Consultant, Former Agency Owner, High Profile/Celebrity Nanny, former La Leche League Leader; with over 22 years of specialized in home newborn/infant care experience, hundreds of births attended, 14 years of professional lactation experience, 8 years of photography experience and hundreds of hours of education/trainings.
Our family has lived in 5 states, moved to 10 homes and I have attended Births in all areas and settings.

My path to Photography was unintentional: I received a Nikon DSLR for Christmas in 2015 and only used the camera to take pictures of my daughters. In 2016 I had just shot our Family Christmas card photos and left the camera in my car when I got called to a birth. My Doula Family had hired a photographer and when a fast moving snow storm was causing much traffic on the Twin Cities freeways, it was clear the Birth Photographer wasn’t going to make it. I went to my car and grabbed my camera. With a prayer and a pep talk from my mentors, I captured their birth story through my lens.
The rest is history.
I have since received many hours of training, obtained further certifications in photography and took multiple photography classes. I now shoot on a Nikon Z7ii Mirrorless camera, utilize the most up-to-date photography editing software, use a speed light for better clarity and have invested in the top Nikkor lenses to offer families the best quality images possible.

In March of 2018, I earned a Midwife Assistant credential from the legendary Midwives at The Farm Midwifery Center in Summertown Tennessee; on a path to become a Midwife. I bring their wisdom and in depth teachings to every birth I attend. It was an amazing life changing experience that I will treasure forever.

I am blessed to have a very supportive Family who supports me through the around-the-clock, on-call schedule that a full-time Doula career requires.
My husband Dan and I have been happily married for 18 years, he works as a Chief Revenue Officer for a Telecommunications company and is a proud Harvard Business School alumni. We live in Nocatee with our 2 daughters, Gabriella “Ella” Grace (15) & Ireland Rose (12) and our Golden Retriever puppy, Maverick.
When I am not at a birth, You can find me volunteering in my Daughter’s classrooms, going to Disney World, running the beautiful beaches of Ponte Vedra Beach and traveling with my Family. 

I pull from my pervious vast experiences, my background and certifications to give Families the most up to date evidence based information, holistic support and the highest level of loving, supportive, non judgement care. My goal for Families is to approach the 4th trimester with feelings of empowerment, elation, peace and contentment about their individual birthing and postpartum experiences.

“Welcome to the Bliss”

-Jessica Gillan
Bellies, Boobs, Babies & Bliss, LLC

As seen in Jacksonville Magazine!