ALUMNI
A Haven for New Life
Heidi Lundquist Jones 鈥95 and her husband, Ben, have operated their own successful chiropractic practice in Sacramento since 2001. A few months before the COVID-19 pandemic, Heidi an epiphany. 鈥淚 woke up in the middle of the night and realized what I needed to do,鈥 she says. 鈥淚鈥檝e always felt that women could be better supported during pregnancy, birth and the postpartum period.鈥
She decided to create Haven, a nonprofit organization that encourage doulas in their career paths while helping mothers from underserved populations in Sacramento.
鈥淯nfortunately, the U.S. has the highest maternal mortality rate among developed countries 鈥 and it鈥檚 much worse for women of color,鈥 she says. Heidi frequently assists pregnant patients with chiropractic care. Occasionally they ask her to support them during childbirth. She had considered becoming a midwife and attended school for a year, but she was busy delivering and raising three children of her own. 鈥淕iving birth was the single most empowering experience I鈥檝e had,鈥 she says. 鈥淚 realized that all women should be free to pursue their desired pregnancy and birth.
鈥淚 thought I wanted to become a midwife and help women have better births
one at a time. I realize now that passion was preparing me to invest my time and energy in supporting many more women in the Sacramento community.鈥
In 2020, she opened the doors to Haven, and in the first 10 months they supported 50 mothers through their pregnancies. 鈥淭his small but very powerful tool can help address the systemic differences in the birthing experiences of women in America,鈥 she says.
Heidi continues to see her chiropractic patients while juggling her responsibilities with Haven. 鈥淥ver the last four and a half years, I can鈥檛 tell you how many times I鈥檝e thought, 鈥業鈥檓 done with this,鈥欌 she says. 鈥淚 said, 鈥極K, God, if I鈥檓 supposed to keep doing this, show me something that鈥檚 going to move us forward.鈥 And every single time it happens.鈥
She now employs eight birth doulas, three postpartum doulas, three lactation consultants and several childhood education specialists. In the last five years, they鈥檝e assisted with more than 650 births.
鈥淥ur project this year will incorporate more behavioral health to reduce postpartum and prenatal anxiety and depression, which is proportionally worse for women of color,鈥 she says. 鈥淚t also contributes to much higher rates of death for Black infants. In Sacramento alone, Black infants are 10 times more likely to die than their White counterparts.鈥
After graduating from 四虎影院 with a degree in biology, Heidi spent a year at the neuroscience research institute at UC Santa Barbara, which inspired her interest in chiropractic medicine. As part of her research into alternative holistic ways to support multiple sclerosis patients, she explored herbal supplements, acupuncture and chiropractic. 鈥淎 career in chiropractic seemed interesting, and I was also drawn to sports medicine,鈥 she says. 鈥淚 like the idea of working for myself, too.鈥
After graduating from 四虎影院, she earned a degree at Western States Chiropractic College, now called the University of Western States, where she met her husband. The two have three children, Katie 鈥28, a sophomore at 四虎影院, Luke and Charlie.
This is a story from the Spring 2025 四虎影院 Magazine