The Birth of Baby Mama: Twin Nursing Alumni Found Postpartum Business

Twin sisters Kaylan Sharp and Kiera Davis (formerly Kaylan and Kiera Larsen) graduated from Duke University School of Nursing’s prelicensure program in 2011 and 2010, respectively. Now, they own and operate Baby Mama, a business that provides support around pregnancy, birth, and postpartum to families in Denver, Colorado. Below, they share their individual nursing experiences and their combined journey towards creating Baby Mama.

A Duke Family Background

Sharp and Davis grew up in North Carolina and have strong ties to Duke University and the Duke Health system.

“We're a big Duke family,” said Sharp. “Our mom completed the Physician Assistant program at Duke and obtained a master’s degree in Health Sciences, our little sisters were both born at Duke, our dad completed his general and interventional cardiology fellowships at Duke, along with a research fellowship at the Duke Databank, and I met and married my husband at Duke, where he completed his ENT residency.”

However, attending Duke University School of Nursing was not always part of the twins’ plans.

“Kaylan and I went to Boston University together. I was a history major, and Kaylan was a human physiology major and pre-med,” said Davis. “We moved back to North Carolina to be closer to our family. I started working in clinical research and was exposed to patient care, and I had a great mentor who was a nurse. She and my parents encouraged me to think about nursing school. Within a year and a half of working in clinical research, I applied early decision to Duke and began there in Fall 2009.”

Meanwhile, Sharp worked in the cardiac catheterization lab at Duke following her degree from Boston University, gaining training on the job.

"I worked there for about five years while I decided between obtaining a master’s degree, versus PA school, versus nursing school,” said Sharp. “I ended up applying to Duke Nursing and was dating my now-husband, who was a second-year medical resident at Duke. He was actually the resident that took care of our little sister while she was in the emergency room, and that's how we met.”

“I decided to apply to Duke’s nursing school and was accepted. I didn't have to move, and I didn't have to do a long-distance relationship,” Sharp added. “Kiera and I overlapped in our program for one semester.”

Baby Mama Is Born

After graduating from Duke, both Sharp and Davis worked as registered nurses in intensive care units (ICUs).

“Kiera started working in the Duke Pediatric Cardiac ICU,” said Sharp. “And then when I moved to Denver, I started working in a huge, multidisciplinary ICU in a city right outside of Denver.”

Both of their career journeys were shaped by the birth of their children and their personal experiences with motherhood, ultimately culminating in their decision to jointly found Baby Mama.

“I now have four kids, and Kiera has two. I went back to work after the first two kids. But then after the third kid, it became a little challenging with childcare, so I became a stay-at-home mom,” said Sharp. “Then we both were pregnant and gave birth during the COVID pandemic—I had my fourth child in September of 2020, and Kiera had her first that December—and that's kind of how Baby Mama was born.”

“We wanted to be present for each other’s births, but hospitals would not allow two support people, such as a partner and a sister, during that time. But you could have a support person and a doula,” Sharp continued. “So, we both completed birth doula training in the summer of 2020 so that we could be present for each other's births, which was super important to us.”

Founded on Personal Experience

Sharp and Davis said that they had not originally imagined using their birth doula training beyond attending each other’s births, but that their plans evolved organically through conversations and information-sharing with each other and friends.

“When you're going through something like pregnancy and for the first time, even with a nursing background and clinical information, you kind of need help,” said Davis. "So, I went to Kaylan for a lot of things: I'm having anxiety. What does this mean? What can I do to help bring labor on? She had all this information, and she was so able and willing to share that—to get on a call or FaceTime me or direct other first-time moms that were friends of ours.”

With encouragement from their mom, Sharp and Davis—both on maternity leave at the time—decided to co-found Baby Mama. Davis has maintained a part-time educator role while Sharp owns and runs the business.

“Kaylan's first 12 months were dedicated to networking and learning the perinatal environment,” said Davis. “And what was great about that time was that we both had babies. We had our own experiences as moms and challenges with postpartum—from lactation to pelvic floor issues—that we could bring to the table.”

Now, the Baby Mama team has grown to 28, including fellow nurses, birth and postpartum doulas, massage therapists, a pelvic floor physical therapist, and a nutritionist who offers in-home meal preparation for new parents.

The twins shared that they created Baby Mama to help bridge gaps in maternal care and provide families with the support that is often missing during pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum transition.

“Through education, trusted referrals, and a strong network of support, we help families navigate what can feel like an overwhelming and unfamiliar journey,” said Davis. “As nurses, our clinical experience, assessment skills, and ability to understand research and data allow us to empower families with evidence-based information that helps transform their birth and postpartum experiences.”

Davis has her master’s in clinical research, working full time as the Director of Education and Media Relations at the Baim Institute for Clinical Research, based in Boston, and Sharp has gone on to become a certified childbirth educator, a certified lactation educator, and an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) who also runs her own private lactation practice.

Nursing Degrees in Action

While many nursing school alumni elect to work in hospitals or clinics, Sharp and Davis have taken an alternative path in founding Baby Mama; they credit Duke School of Nursing faculty for preparing them with the necessary skills.

“I loved our maternity professor, Dr. Helen Gordon,” said Sharp. “It’s not super surprising that I ended up back in the birth space because I was so close to going into labor and delivery after that rotation.”

Sharp said that nursing school taught her teamwork, communication skills, and assessment skills, which have all been crucial to managing others and taking care of moms and babies.

“Dr. Michael Relf, who taught our Foundations of Nursing class, said that so much of our assessment of patients comes from being a present and emotionally intelligent observer,” said Sharp. “I use those same assessment skills every day."

“I still use my nursing degree, especially as a lactation consultant,” Sharp continued. “That brings me a lot of joy because I worked hard for that degree, and I’m very proud of it.”

“Both Kaylan and I are deeply grateful to the Duke University School of Nursing,” Davis added. “It provided the education, mentorship, and foundation that prepared us to build a successful business supporting families throughout our birth and postpartum journeys.”