Hellooo! I’m Sallay! I am a Sierra Leonean born on Turtle Island and grew up on the occupied lands of the hinono’eino’ biito’owu’ (Arapaho), Tséstho’e (Cheyenne), Očhéthi Šakówiŋ, and Núu-agha-tʉvʉ-pʉ̱ (Ute), and Ndé Kónitsąąíí Gokíyaa (Lipan Apache), today known as Greeley, CO. I am a Biologist turned Full-spectrum birthworker, gardener, and community herbalist.

As a Full Spectrum Birthworker, I provide support through the entire spectrum of reproduction, including fertility, pregnancy, birth, loss, abortion, and postpartum. I strongly believe everyone deserves to be supported, seen and heard. The support I offer is grounded in an understanding that you know more about what you are feeling in your body than anyone and I am there to support you tap into that space and to make sure you are respected. Everyone's body and needs are unique and I am here to support and advocate for you!

Since I was a kid, I have been interested in birth, plant medicine, understanding how our bodies work and transform throughout our lives, and how to best help people through these changes. I have also always had a lot of interests and struggled between wanting to be an OB/GYN, a Pediatrician, a biomedical scientist, and working in public health. I first heard about doulas while I was working at a daycare in college. I was really drawn to the community care aspect of doula work and the possibility of being able to provide relationship-based, person-centered care.

My love for plants came from years of playing outside in with my siblings, watching and helping my Grandma Masa tend to our family garden, hearing stories about my Grandma Haja Kadi and how she would treat children with plants back home, and from my mother’s love of working plants and food as medicine. My herbal knowledge weaves together my knowledge as a biologist, my experience growing and building relationships with plant relatives, mentorships, classes, and knowledge passed down from my mother, my grandmother to my mother, and generations of ancestors before.

Before becoming a birthworker, I worked as an Immunology researcher for 5 years in Chapel Hill, NC, and did a year and a half of graduate school at the University of Colorado-Anschutz. I had gone to grad school because I wanted to learn how I could integrate my basic science knowledge into a public health career. Working in research, I had always been a little bothered that we were making all these cool discoveries that people should know about but it was not written in a way that is accessible to most people! After a series of invalidating and disrespectful experiences, I ended up leaving and began pursuing birthworker (the BEST decision ever)!

My research projects have included the impacts of a pesticide, chlorpyrifos on Huntington’s disease, the impacts of HIV on aging, an HIV Vaccine trial, and graduate school rotations in research involving convalescent plasma and COVID-19, HIV and the microbiome, and the risk allele PTPN2 and its effect on B cell maintenance in Type 1 Diabetes. I love geeking out about the immune system and the microbiome, and learning how to apply this knowledge to support my clients, family, friends, and community!

I provide trauma-informed care that is mindful of potential systemic, historical, and personal triggers that may come up for you.

My practice is rooted in Reproductive Justice and Liberation for all, birth justice, disability justice, Black Liberation, racial justice, Queer and Trans justice, healing justice, climate justice, ecological justice, Land Back, and support for all other survivors of childhood sexual abuse and sexual assault. We have all been birthed and birthwork intersects everything! 

I loveee a good meal and really enjoy trying new foods! I love chillin in nature, gardening and strengthening my relationship with the land, fluffy clouds (especially at sunrise or sunset), dancing and listening to music, ​orange flowers, making art, and spending time with loved ones!

I really look forward to meeting and talking with you about how I can help you on your journey!