Our point of view

Stephanie is a midwife and mom in Brooklyn, NY. She has worked in the city’s public hospital system and in private practice throughout New York City and Long Island. She received her Masters of Science in Midwifery from SUNY Downstate, where she studied with midwives who attended births at home and in the hospital setting. She is passionate about supporting women and their families through the ups and downs of becoming new parents. Stephanie brings a wealth of real world experience as well as warmth, empathy, and a sense of humor to her teaching.

Leslie’s nearly fifteen years as a labor & delivery, postpartum and newborn care nurse in the hospital setting gives her much first- hand experience as a class facilitator. She also brings with her the life experience that goes along with raising four sons. “I want to help parents grow in their confidence to meet the challenges that lay ahead; first to deliver their babies and then to build their families. Becoming a parent is the most challenging…yet the most rewarding thing they will ever set out to do.”  Leslie recently became board certified as an Integrative Nurse Health Coach and is keenly aware of the importance of empowering individuals toward optimum health and wellness. Coaching, teaching and building self-efficacy skills are just some of the tools she brings to The Parent Collective.

Through Beth’s many years of teaching breastfeeding, she has developed great strategies and techniques to make learning fun and easy to understand. She loves having light bulb and ah-ha moments with the families she supports. She has more than 22 years experience as a maternal child health nurse and lactation consultant. She has worked as a labor and delivery nurse, post partum nurse and patient educator in hospital settings and is the coordinator of newborn services and lactation in a pediatric office. She has also taught thousands of parents and provided staff training and development for nurses, doctors and nutritionists.
She has written articles and worked as a consultant, content development strategist and medical advisor and editor for: BabyZone.com– now Babble.com; part of The Disney Interactive Media Group. As a member of the i Village/Newborn Channel Nurse Advisory Board, she consulted as they updated breastfeeding programming for the Newborn Channel and she is featured in several segments, which air in more than 1,000 hospitals across the United States.  She feels passionately about helping women feel empowered to make wise health care decisions and to be proactive about their health and the health of their family.

Melissa is a Certified Nurse Midwife, serving the New Haven area since 2013. Prior to midwifery she worked as a registered nurse in emergency medicine as well as labor and delivery. Melissa absolutely loves being a midwife and caring for women across the lifespan. She is a passionate instructor who enjoys teaching student nurses, midwives and pre-hospital care providers on a per diem basis. Melissa obtained her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Fairfield University and her Master of Science in Nursing from Columbia University.

Caroline is a certified nurse-midwife working in a hospital-based practice in Manhattan and Brooklyn.  She received her Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing at The University of North Carolina, before attending Vanderbilt University to complete her midwifery education.  As a student, Caroline enjoyed volunteering as a birth doula.  She also had the privilege of learning at a wide variety of birth settings, including a birth center, an academic medical center, and a rural community hospital.  Caroline’s favorite aspect of midwifery is educating families on their choices in childbirth, thus empowering them to step into parenthood with confidence.  She is looking forward to using these skills as a facilitator with The Parent Collective.

Kate has been committed to the health and health education of others for over 14 years as a registered nurse. She began her nursing career in Intensive and Coronary Care. After serving as birth attendant for her best friends at the births of their two amazing children, Kate transitioned to Labor and Delivery. She had found her calling in Midwifery and Women’s Health.
Kate finds immense joy in demystifying the confusing and sometimes frightening processes of pregnancy, birth, postpartum, and the general world of medicine. She is passionate about empowering new parents to follow their own compass and protecting the unique personal experiences during the transitions into parent- and family-hood. Kate graduated with her Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing from Sacred Heart University in 2004 and with a dual Master’s of Science in Nursing for Midwifery and Women’s Health Nurse Practitioners from Yale University in 2018.