Our Mission
Our mission is dedicated to helping perinatal mothers and their families during their time of need by providing transportation, mental health assistance, and supportive services.
Our Values
We pursue our vision and mission with compassion, professionalism, and integrity in a collaborative, respectful environment that empowers passion and balance.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Statement
Miracle Babies shall maintain and promote a policy of nondiscrimination based on race, religion, color, sex, age, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, national origin, pregnancy, medical condition, and covered veteran status. Miracle Babies fosters inclusive access to services. We seek to improve health and mental well-being and address inequities for underserved/underrepresented parents through free access to transportation, supportive services, and resources.
We are service driven and strive to deliver a culture of creativity, collaboration, integrity, and respect for all individuals.
Our History
Where it Began
Founded in San Diego in 2009
Miracle Babies was founded by Dr. Sean Daneshmand, a board-certified obstetrician with extensive experience caring for women with high-risk pregnancies. Inspired by his personal experience with his wife's high- risk pregnancy and daughter Natalie being born prematurely.
Dr. Daneshmand has witnessed the struggles that many low-income families face when their baby is hospitalized. Dr. Daneshmand decided to focus the main effort of Miracle Babies on the distribution of direct financial assistance.
Miracle Babies serves families with hospitalized newborns in any San Diego County hospital, Children's Hospital Orange County (CHOC), UCI Medical Center in Orange County, and the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles (CHLA). Our geographic reach is much wider, however: infants are often transported from neighboring counties. In fact, families from as far away as Saipan and Hawaii have benefited from our programs.
Our Team
Board of Directors
Marjan Mortazavi
Marjan is the managing partner of Bankruptcy Legal Group, a professional law corporation specializing in bankruptcy law and debt negotiation, where she has been partner for the past twelve years. In 2005, she and her husband established a medical spa, where she assists with the management of the business, interacting with clients, and managing day-to-day marketing and business operations.
Marjan graduated from UCSD in 1994 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics and a minor in Philosophy. She obtained her Doctorate of Jurisprudence from California Western School of Law in 1997.
Lance Stern
Lance is Managing Director of DigMEE Partners Inc, which is a boutique Ecommerce and Digital Marketing consulting firm. Before that, Lance was an operating executive who ran Ecommerce and Digital Marketing businesses for large brands and retailers such as Nike, Quiksilver, SWELL, and Annas Linens. Lance and his wife, Morgan, founded the Orange County chapter of Miracle Babies in 2015 after their triplets were born prematurely and they experienced first-hand the importance of parents spending as much time as possible in the NICU with their newborns. Lance received his bachelors degree from Duke University and MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Sean is an obstetrician and gynecologist (OB-GYN) who specializes in maternal and fetal medicine at Scripps Clinic. He is recognized as one of the San Diego regions top specialists for high-risk pregnancies. He was named a Top Doctor in San Diego by San Diego Magazine six years in a row, and was recognized as a CNN Hero in 2010.
Sean graduated from New York Medical College in 1995, completed his residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at UCLA in 1999, and went on to pursue a fellowship in maternal-fetal medicine at UCSD.
Tina is an executive at Abbott, a global healthcare company that helps people live more fully at all stages of life. Prior to Abbott, Tina was a commercial leader at various multinational medical device companies, including Medtronic and Boston Scientific. She holds a bachelors degree from Princeton University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Tina is passionate about the vision and mission of Miracle Babies, having experienced the challenges that families endure when her twin daughters were born prematurely and were required to spend over a month in the NICU to ensure a healthy beginning.
Rob Heller has filled several roles in the world of marketing, including starting a boutique 4-person agency in college at Rochester Institute of Technology in 2001. After years of groundbreaking roles in his career, Rob founded his own agency here in San Diego, Heller, Inc. His agency has grown seven hundred percent in revenue in just two years.
Rob also founded Heller Studios in 2019, a creative space in downtown San Diego that serves as a resource for photographers, videographers, and other members of the artistic community. Rob has sought out and heartily supported numerous worthwhile causes over the last decade, providing pro bono marketing and promotional work to local nonprofit organizations.
Micaiah is a Director with Becton Dickinson (BD), a global medical technology company that is advancing the world of health by improving medical discovery, diagnostics and the delivery of care. Micaiah has a very personal connection with Miracle Babies as she is a Miracle baby. Born almost 4 months premature, she spent the first 68 days of her life in the NICU using a pediatric respirator developed by Dr. Forrest M. Bird. This respirator, nicknamed the "Baby Bird" respirator, was developed specifically for premature infants and small children. Micaiah was the first baby to use the respirator at CHRISTUS Trinity Mother Frances hospital located in Tyler, TX. This device saved her life and is credited with reducing the rate of breathing-related infant mortality from 70 percent to 10 percent worldwide.
Our Team
Staff
Marianela Camarillo
Marianela’s management and leadership experience in both for profit and not for profit organizations qualify her to be an effective leader in overseeing Miracle Babies administrative and programming initiatives. As a co-operator of three McDonalds restaurants she became proficient in a broad range of financial and operational best practices. Most recently, working at Ronald McDonald House Charities of San Diego she oversaw family care services and Ronald McDonald House operations.
Marianela has dedicated the last decade assisting families with critically ill children and she has been affiliated with Miracle Babies in various capacities since its founding in 2009. In 2015, Marianela came on board as program director working directly with hospitals, and patient families. Under her tenure Miracle Babies’ outreach to NICU families has increased triple fold. Marianela created and implemented the MB Care Package Program and Miracle Hours at local hospitals.
Marianela is committed to the belief that as individuals we have a responsibility to give back to our communities. She is a graduate of California State University, San Marcos and Hamburger University. Marianela is a native San Diegan, where she currently lives with her husband, and two children.
Marianela strives to ensure that San Diego NICU families receive the unique support they need.
Elana Schiff
Elana is a native San Diegan, however she left after High School to attend the University of Arizona obtaining her B.S. in Merchandising and Marketing. After 30+ years of living in Arizona and raising her family, she decided to relocate home to be close with her parents (her father is also a long-time native San Diegan) and other family members. Upon relocating back to San Diego, Elana decided to retire from her career in Cosmetics/Retail and Sales and follow her passion to join Miracle Babies as the events and special projects coordinator. Elana has held several leadership roles with various non-profit organizations and has been planning events for the past 15 years. She is an active Sustainer with the Sonoran Centennial NCL chapter and has served on numerous boards including Har Zion Congregation and the Arizona Girls Lacrosse Association. She is committed to helping others, always finding ways to give back to her community. When she is not at work, you can find her volunteering around town, on the Pickle Ball courts, at the beach or enjoying all what San Diego has to offer.
Lucy Vasquez
Lucy is a former Miracle Mom who has previously served as an Office Manager in various Medical Practices and Legal settings. She has two children; her youngest son was born at only thirty weeks after her water broke at twenty-four weeks pregnant and was on hospital bedrest for two months. When her son was born, he weighed under two pounds and spent the first three months of his life in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Lucy has dedicated her spare time being an advocate for prematurity awareness and premature birth and shares a special connection with families in similar situations because of her own experience.
As the Program Manager for My Brain & My Baby, Lucy understands first-hand the emotions and uncertainties parents and mothers feel while pregnant and after giving birth to a premature baby. She feels incredibly honored to be part of this program and wholeheartedly supports its mission.
Susy Doole
Meet Susy Doole, Miracle Babies volunteer and now team member. Susy began volunteering her weekends with Miracle Babies during the height of the pandemic at our local diaper distributions. In the summer of 2021 Susy came on as a staff member ensuring parents are able to be with their hospitalized newborns. Susy has a long-standing passion for helping families with sick children and newborns. A San Diego native, Susy earned a degree in Sociology from UCSD with a Minor in Psychology. She worked professionally as a Child Life Specialist at both Childrens Medical Center in Dallas, Texas, and at Rady Childrens Hospital in San Diego. Susy helped families and their children cope with the hospital experience and prepared the children for surgery and procedures. Her father, a retired Neonatologist at Rady Childrens Hospital, first introduced her to the NICU, fueling her passion for helping families with hospitalized babies. Susy is very dedicated to serving families in need and supports the Miracle Babies mission.
Jesse Sotelo
Before Jesse joined the Miracle Babies family, Jesse worked at the Convention Center as a public safety supervisor for 27 years, Jesse is a dad to five grown adult children, grandfather to ten and with family playing an important role in his life, he felt working with Miracle Babies as a driver would be an opportunity to continue serving his community and families in need.
Miracle Worker, Jesse spends his days transporting families to unite them with their hospitalized infants. Thank you, Jesse, for your passion and devotion towards supporting our Miracle Babies’ families!
