“If one is lucky, a solitary fantasy can totally transform one million realities.”
Maya Angelou
Birth & Postpartum Guide | Educator | Creator of The Threshold Program | Founder of The Parenthood Project OC
Jen Ballew is a seasoned birth and postpartum practitioner, somatic guide, and founder of The Parenthood Project OC—a holistic care model designed to help families feel prepared, supported, and confident as they move through birth and early parenthood.
With a decade of experience and advanced training in physiological birth, newborn care, somatic trauma work, and postpartum recovery, Jen has supported hundreds of families through every phase of the perinatal journey—from high-stakes births to VBACs, twin transitions, NICU recoveries, and everything in between.
She created The Threshold Program after navigating both a traumatic first birth and a deeply empowering second one, and realizing how few families were being given practical tools, emotional preparation, or individualized care for the complexity of modern birth.
Jen’s approach blends science and sacredness—offering real strategies and practices for things like feeding, sleep, and nervous system regulation, while also honoring the deep identity shift of becoming a parent. Her care is structured but flexible, deeply attuned, and always focused on helping parents trust themselves.
In addition to her hands-on work with families, Jen leads a trusted team of doulas and practitioners to deliver high-touch care through The Parenthood Project’s Sanctuary Experience and Nurture Nest programs. She is passionate about helping families move through this transition with clarity, confidence, and calm.
Jen is a certified birth and postpartum doula and a parent educator with over a decade of experience supporting families in hospitals, homes, and birth centers. She is the creator of the GENTLE Birth Framework and a trained Ecstatic Birth Practitioner, blending evidence-based education with somatic and emotional integration.
Her training includes the Embodied Practitioner Somatic Program and Sleep Savvy Professional certification through the Sleep Counseling Institute, where she developed a strong foundation in attachment-based infant sleep support.
Jen has specialized experience supporting VBAC journeys, multiples care, NICU transitions, and complex postpartum recoveries. She is a trauma-informed educator and parent coach, trained in both Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ayurvedic postpartum practices, including herbal care, meal planning, and traditional bodywork techniques.