Birth Support Rooted in Community, Culture, and Choice

About Tallchief & Co Birth Collective

Tallchief & Co Birth Collective was founded on a simple belief: Oklahoma families deserve to feel informed, respected, supported, and heard throughout pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period, regardless of race, geography, or socioeconomic status.

At the heart of Tallchief & Co is F. Dana Bear, an enrolled citizen of the Osage Nation, member of the Grayhorse District and Buffalo Bull Face Clan, and the great-niece of legendary Osage ballerinas Maria Tallchief and Marjorie Tallchief. Dana's work is shaped by a deep understanding that family, culture, creativity, education, and community care are not separate things; they are interconnected.

Dana is a full-spectrum doula, childbirth educator, Certified Indigenous Lactation Counselor, herbalist, artist, educator, mentor, and lifelong community advocate. Her work spans birth and postpartum support, community education, cultural preservation, mentorship, and creative expression. She brings together evidence-informed birth education, traditional knowledge, advocacy, and the wisdom that comes from lived experience.

Her connection to art and cultural storytelling has taken her work beyond the birth room. In celebration of the release of the Maria Tallchief quarter, Dana was commissioned to bead a pair of skin-toned pointe shoes for acclaimed ballerina Misty Copeland, creating a piece that brought together Osage history, ballet, beadwork, and the legacy of Maria Tallchief. For Dana, the project was more than an artistic commission; it was an opportunity to honor the women in her family whose lives helped shape the story of Indigenous excellence in the arts.

Dana's story and perspective have also been featured on Hulu's Searching for Soul Food, where food, family, culture, and community come together in ways that reflect the values at the center of her work.

She serves as a board member of the Center for Indigenous Resilience, Culture, and Maternal Health Equity at the University of Oklahoma, contributing to work focused on Indigenous maternal health, resilience, culture, and equity. Her commitment to maternal health is deeply personal and grounded in a belief that communities should have the knowledge, resources, and power to care for their own families.

Dana comes from an Osage family whose history is deeply connected to the establishment and stewardship of the Osage Nation's mineral estate. That history is part of the larger story she carries forward; a story of land, sovereignty, family, resilience, and responsibility to future generations.

Teaching, Mentorship & Community

Teaching has always been an important part of Dana's work. Tallchief & Co was created not only to support families, but to teach, mentor, and build community capacity.

Through TCBC, Dana provides childbirth education and mentorship for emerging community-based doulas, with particular attention to rural communities and communities that have historically experienced barriers to quality, culturally responsive care. The goal is not simply to train more doulas. It is to help develop birth workers who understand their communities, recognize the importance of cultural humility, know how to navigate systems, and are equipped to provide compassionate, informed support to the families around them.

Tallchief & Co was built with rural families and families of color at the center. We support families exploring midwifery care, hospital birth, home birth, birth centers, lactation, traditional wellness practices, and other approaches that reflect their individual values and choices.

We help families understand their options, prepare for conversations with providers, develop questions, advocate for themselves, and navigate the healthcare system with greater confidence. We also help aspiring doulas develop the knowledge, skills, confidence, and community connections necessary to serve families in their own communities.

What We Believe

We believe informed consent matters.

Cultural knowledge matters.

Traditional practices matter.

Evidence matters.

Teaching matters.

Community matters.

And most importantly, your voice matters.

Tallchief & Co is an Oklahoma Medicaid and state-issued insurance provider, helping make quality doula support more accessible to the families and communities who need it.

Our work is about more than supporting individual births. It is about strengthening families, building community capacity, mentoring the next generation of birth workers, preserving knowledge, honoring lineage, expanding access to culturally responsive care, and creating a future where every family has the knowledge and support to make informed decisions about their own care.

Your body. Your birth. Your choices. Your community.

This is Tallchief & Co Birth Collective.