Our Team
Laura Gray, CNM
Laura is a native of southeastern North Carolina where she continues to live with her family. She opened Ohana Midwifery and Wellness, PLLC in 2019. She has a passion for birth and women’s health especially community birth. Her care for women and newborns has span over 25 years. Client choice and empowerment is important to her and she loves supporting women to birth as they choose.
She obtained an associate degree in nursing locally from Sampson Community College in 1998. Laura worked as a registered nurse in various rolls including labor and delivery and mother baby units as she earned a bachelor of science degree in nursing from Barton College in 1999 and a master’s degree from East Carolina University with a concentration in Nurse Midwifery in 2005.
Sherlene Blackwood, FNP-C
Sherlene Blackwood, a native of Harnett County, obtained her Master of Science of Nursing from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. A registered nurse since 2007 and a family nurse practitioner since 2016, Sherlene has the experience and knowledge to care for clients of all ages. Sherlene is known for delivering highly personalized, compassionate, and evidence-based care.
Sherlene is the proud mother to a UNC Charlotte 49er. She is married to Cary. In her free time you can find Sherlene entertaining family and friends, rubberstamping, or creating adventures!
“Genuine, safe, and supportive are all words I would use to describe Sherlene and the care she has provided for my family. She genuinely cares for her patients and offers a safe environment for moms to express concerns, worries, or other thoughts. She is a wonderful anomaly from what I have found in other providers”. -Liz D. , a client
Marinda Carraway, CNM
Marinda’s interest in women’s health began in 2015 after watching a documentary about midwifery. She was deeply interested in community birth and started on her path to becoming a certified nurse midwife by going to nursing school. Her registered nursing career started in 2019 where she worked on medical surgical, mother-baby, and labor and delivery units. She obtained a Master of Science degree in Nursing with a concentration in Midwifery from East Carolina University in 2023.
She is excited to serve women and families in her community with the ability to support their choices and autonomy through homebirth.
Jenny Finn, BA
Jenny was born in Hawaii while her family was stationed in Oahu. Her love of babies and birth started many years ago and she has supported women in various roles including birth doula, birth assistant, and lactation counselor. Jenny is studying to be an IBCLC. She is a mom of 4, a homebirth mom of 2, and grandmother of 1. She is our original birth assistant at Ohana Midwifery and Wellness and serves as our birth assistant coordinator. Jenny is passionate about lactation and babies and we often hear her talk about “the Jenny school of babies”. She strives to promote the best ‘womb to world’ transition from all aspects.
Danielle Towle, BA
A mom of 5 with all of her children, except the first , were born outside the hospital. Danielle fell in love with birth work and supporting women several years ago. She is a proud homebirth mom and passionate about supporting women through their journey.
Sarah Hernandez, BA, Doula
I am originally from a small rural California town but now call North Carolina home. Since moving to NC I have become a mother to two beautiful babies. We love to explore the outdoors; traveling, hiking, and camping. I also enjoy reading, coffee, and all things birth. I can’t wait to meet each one of you and join you on your journey into parenthood.
Emily Moncada, BA, Doula
Emily is from the Lone Star state of Texas where she attended Texas Woman’s University and received a degree in Family studies. She utilized her degree working for the state of Texas until she married her husband and moved out of state. Emily and her family moved to North Carolina in 2022 after her husband received military orders to Fort Liberty. She quickly fell in love with the area! She is a military wife and mom of five to two beautiful stepdaughters and three sons. Her interest in birth work began in 2014 when she helped a friend through her pregnancy and birth. After giving birth to her second son in 2021, Emily became a certified birth doula. She has been serving as a doula ever since! Emily also has experience/education in childbirth education, belly binding, and rebozo techniques. Most recently, Emily has begun Midwifery education and serving as a Birth Assistant/Doula with Ohana. She is excited for the opportunity to continue serving women through her role with the Ohana team!
Sydney Evans, CLC
Sydney is a native of Florida where she attended the University of North Florida to obtain her bachelor’s in Communications. She moved to North Carolina a few years ago to be closer to family, met Nick, and they began their own family. They have a son named Zayn. During her pregnancy and birth experience with Zayn, Sydney discovered her passion for learning all she could related to lactation. With this new found love, she pursued more education and is now a Certified Lactation Counselor and an experienced breastfeeding mom. Sydney is honored to grow with Ohana and continue to expand her work in supporting women and babies. Our breastfeeding class is facilitated by Sydney.