About
Our Origin Story
Kimberly and Allegra first met at a birth center in Los Angeles in 2010. Allegra was a volunteer and aspiring midwife and Kimberly was the director of lactation and childbirth education. The moment they met they had a deep affinity for each other. They have supported each other in their individual births and have a deep sisterhood rooted in love for each other and the clients they serve together. Kimberly welcomed her 6th and last baby in 2011, Allegra was there when Kimberly became a grandmother in 2012, Kimberly was there when Allegra became a mother in 2015. They have an interwoven relationship between mutual mentorship and upliftment. They are both Libras born in the same month- they find balance in their partnerships. Kindred Space LA was born in 2018 in response to the black maternity health crisis effecting black birthing people in this country. The Kindred Space LA Birthing center was born in 2020.
Our Midwives
Allegra Hill, LM, CPM & IBCLC
Allegra Hill is a Licensed Midwife, Certified Professional Midwife and Lactation Consultant. She began working to support people in birth as a doula in 2010 attending mainly hospital births and helping families navigate that system. During that time she volunteered at a local birth center and officially enrolled in midwifery school. In 2014, she graduated from the National Midwifery Institute and became a Certified Professional Midwife and a Licensed Midwife in 2015. In 2015 she became a International Board Certified Lactation Consultant.
Allegra is the co-founder and co-owner of Kindred Space LA and the Birthing People Foundation along with Kimberly Durdin. She has trained and mentored birth doulas since 2013 and has participated in the training of birth workers within the Birthing People Foundation. She uses her extensive knowledge and training in nonviolent communication, conflict resolution, early child development and cultural competency in all areas of her work. It is Allegra’s honor to support families as they make, grow, birth and nourish their children with confidence and support. She has been blessed with the experience of attending hundreds of beautiful births in homes, hospitals and birth centers and supporting many, many more with placenta medicine and newborn nurturing.
Born with certified nurse midwives in Los Angeles, Allegra has been with her husband Gerry for 15 years. Allegra’s most important role is that of mother to her two home birthed children, Dorothy and Malcolm. Allegra lives in downtown Culver City with her family, cat and box turtle.
Kimberly Durdin, LM, CPM, IBCLC
Kimberly Durdin is a Licensed Midwife, Internationally Board Certified Lactation Consultant, Childbirth Educator and Doula Trainer. As a mother of six and grandmother of five, Kimberly credits her children as her greatest teachers.
Over the last 29 years, Kimberly has interwoven her life with the lives of thousands of families throughout New York City, Washington DC Metro Area & Los Angeles. Be it through her work of providing lactation care, postpartum support, groups, counseling, childbirth education, labor support or through her work mentoring current and future birthworkers, her dedication has allowed her to fully enjoy the fruits of her labor in the faces of the communities served. She and business partner Allegra Hill are co-owners and co-founders of Kindred Space LA, South LA’s only Black-owned Birth Center and hub for midwifery care, doula support and training, lactation consulting, education, parenting support group, enrichment and movement.
Her non-profit the Birthing People Foundation empowers People of Color by providing free and low cost education, training and certification pertaining to pregnancy, birth and postpartum; such as doulas, childbirth educators, lactation consultants, birth assistants and midwives. It is designed to address the maternal and infant health disparities in communities of color and other marginalized groups and to help change birth outcomes for marginalized people, while bringing Black and Brown women/people back to their roots as the original wellness providers.
Kimberly lives in South Los Angeles with her partner Michael and her two youngest children. Her older children live close by with their spouses and children, and one of her children currently resides in the DC Metro Area.
Hiroko Aoyagi LM, CPM
I was born and raised in Japan. Over the course of my childhood, I came to the States first when I was 7 years old. To be exposed in different culture in young age shaped me to who I am now. I came back again in high school and college as a foreign exchange student. Every time I came to the US, the experiences impacted my worldview. I naturally realized that people have various upbringings, cultural backgrounds and boundaries. What’s “normal” for me can be different for others. I developed empathy.
After I graduated college I worked in a corporate world. I got married and had my daughter in the hospital in Japan. I was 28 years old. Although my daughter was born healthy, it was not a pleasant experience. In 2005, I moved to Los Angeles with my husband and my daughter. I knew I wanted to have different birth experiences. My journey to become a midwife began with my two home births. When I discovered home birth, I jumped right in. I knew that was what I wanted. With the help and support from my midwife, I was able to make my own decisions to birth in the way I felt safe and comfortable. I felt so cared for and empowered in every phase of my pregnancy, birth and postpartum. I still remember very clearly the feeling of joy, relief and the mixture of feelings that I can’t even put into words. that I never had with my first birth. I gradually grew to feel how wonderful it will be to support others who seeks similar experiences.
In 2017, I joined the Nizhoni Institute of Midwifery. In addition to working as a birth doula and placenta encapsulation specialist, I attended over 70 births as a Student Midwife. I became a license midwife in April 2021.