ALUMNI
A Haven for New Life
Heidi Lundquist Jones ’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. “I woke up in the middle of the night and realized what I needed to do,” she says. “I’ve always felt that women could be better supported during pregnancy, birth and the postpartum period.”
She decided to create Haven, a nonprofit organization that encourage doulas in their career paths while helping mothers from underserved populations in Sacramento.
“Unfortunately, the U.S. has the highest maternal mortality rate among developed countries — and it’s much worse for women of color,” 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. “Giving birth was the single most empowering experience I’ve had,” she says. “I realized that all women should be free to pursue their desired pregnancy and birth.
“I 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.”
In 2020, she opened the doors to Haven, and in the first 10 months they supported 50 mothers through their pregnancies. “This small but very powerful tool can help address the systemic differences in the birthing experiences of women in America,” she says.
Heidi continues to see her chiropractic patients while juggling her responsibilities with Haven. “Over the last four and a half years, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve thought, ‘I’m done with this,’” she says. “I said, ‘OK, God, if I’m supposed to keep doing this, show me something that’s going to move us forward.’ And every single time it happens.”
She now employs eight birth doulas, three postpartum doulas, three lactation consultants and several childhood education specialists. In the last five years, they’ve assisted with more than 650 births.
“Our project this year will incorporate more behavioral health to reduce postpartum and prenatal anxiety and depression, which is proportionally worse for women of color,” she says. “It 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.”
After graduating from Westmont 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. “A career in chiropractic seemed interesting, and I was also drawn to sports medicine,” she says. “I like the idea of working for myself, too.”
After graduating from Westmont, 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 ’28, a sophomore at Westmont, Luke and Charlie.
This is a story from the Spring 2025 Westmont Magazine