About Kate

About Kate

While earning her BA in English Literature, Kate had the opportunity to study abroad at Oxford University. Not only did she gain the benefits of a different approach to learning, she also discovered an intense love for travel. A few years later, she traveled to South Africa where she taught preschool children. Following this experience, she worked with a team in Morocco and in the States as a photographer/journalist for a humanitarian project. Throughout these years and projects, Kate has consistently worked as a freelance editor and writer.

The birth of her son in 2007 was a beautiful journey in itself, and it sent her down an unexpected path as she began to pursue her newfound interest in birth on a professional level. She has since become a birth doula, a postpartum doula, a childbirth educator, and a Nursing Mothers’ Alliance breastfeeding counselor. She has also added to her personal experience with the home births of her daughters in 2012 and 2020. In 2015, 2016, and 2017, Kate won the Philadelphia Family LOVE Award as Best Doula in Philadelphia. BellyWise is the expression of Kate’s appreciation and respect for the process and experience of birth and becoming family. She hopes to instill confidence in each of her clients through knowledge, comfort, and human interaction.

In 2017, Kate received her MPH and Certificate in Maternal and Child Health from Johns Hopkins University, after enjoying every minute of delving into the research surrounding women and children (among other interesting topics!). As a public health consultant and as research faculty at JHU, she has worked on a variety of projects including: homelessness among women and children in Philadelphia; policy changes regarding babies born addicted to opioids in PA; transgender health and health care in Lebanon; breastfeeding practices in Central and West Africa; gender equality in the global HIV response; cardiovascular disease and associated risk factors among formerly incarcerated people in Baltimore; capacity-building for research in injury and trauma in Pakistan and Afghanistan; and how mentoring impacts youth in the US. She strives to incorporate her constantly expanding knowledge into her practice as a doula and educator. 

Kate lives and works in Philadelphia with her family and their two crazy dogs, Scrappy and Glory. She calls Philly her home but is always on the lookout for a good adventure…anywhere in the world.

Contact Kate for more information.

Kate Wright, MPH, LCCE, CD(DONA)