Brittany Sharpe Mcollum
Brittany began her work as a childbirth professional after the birth of her first son in 2006. She is a Birth Works certified childbirth educator, a DONA certified birth doula, a certified breastfeeding counselor with Nursing Mothers Alliance, and has completed birth doula training with Birth Arts International. Since 2007, she has been supporting expectant and new families by encouraging them to become knowledgeable, confident, and resourceful recipients of care. Assisting families in creating birth and parenting experiences about which they feel positive, confident, and informed is at the heart of Brittany's work. Her approach to birth and parenting focuses on building awareness of one's intuition and combining it with learned knowledge in a way that is respectful of the needs and abilities of each individual. In addition to her work with expectant parents, she facilitates pelvic bodywork and fetal positioning trainings and conference lectures for birth professionals. Brittany lives in Philadelphia with her husband, two sons, and daughter. Check out her website for upcoming classes, workshops, conference events, and more at www.blossomingbelliesbirth.com, follow her on Instagram @blossomingbelliesbirth, and stay in touch on Facebook at Blossoming Bellies Wholistic Birth Services.
Ilana segal
Hello! I’m Ilana Segal I’m a resident of Philadelphia, and live in the graduate hospital area of the city. I have been working as an occupational therapist for 7 years now, and have been working in early intervention for about 6 years. I have worked at various schools in the area working with children with various diagnoses including down syndrome, developmental delay, cerebral palsy, prader willi, ADD, ADHD, ODD, and currently 85% of my caseload is comprised of children with a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder. I provide therapy services both in school and in the home targeting areas of fine motor skills, self-regulation, overall strengthening, attention/focus, and use of sensory integration interventions. I specialize in working with children birth-5 years old, and seriously enjoy what I do. I get excited to go into work everyday, and see what new skills my kids will acquire. Some of my best days are when I hear parents tell me how happy they are to have their child say hi to them, or call them Mommy, Daddy, or even just acknowledge their presence, for the first time ever, and I know everything I do is for a reason.
Nikki Lee
Nikki has been a nurse since 1971. In addition, she is a childbirth educator, a holistic lactation consultant, a craniosacral therapy practitioner, a baby body worker (teaching Infant Massage and TummyTime!), an author, a teacher, a public speaker and will be a registered yoga instructor soon. Her publications include Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Breastfeeding Therapy, the monographs “Benefits of Breastfeeding and Their Economic Impact” and “Sexuality and Breastfeeding” and the educational pamphlet “How to help yourself through labor". She is a reviews editor for the journal Clinical Lactation, writes reviews for the Old-Time Herald, a magazine dedicated to old-time music, is author of the blog, Morning Thoughts, and regularly updates her Facebook page, NikkiLeeHealth.
ELIZABETH VARASO
Elizabeth Varaso of Mama Bird Birth Services is a Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator, a DONA Certified Birth Doula and the mother of four very ornery children ages eleven and under. Although she initially arrived in Philadelphia as a single 20-something in pursuit of a graduate degree at the University of Pennsylvania, she stuck around and has loved watching Philly evolve into a family friendly city over the past 20 years. She thinks that she has the very best job in the world, preparing expectant families for a confident, healthy & satisfying birth.
Beside her birth work, Elizabeth has enjoyed learning and using American Sign Language with her own children and thinks that teaching it to other young families is a great excuse to help new families build their village and to reconnect with birth class students and doula clients after their babies arrive. Her family’s experience using signing has resulted in enhanced ability to communicate and understand each other, reduced frustration, connecting emotionally, supporting the acquisition of verbal skills and really just having a whole lot of fun together.
Julia Rolf
i am licensed clinical social worker and mom living in brewerytown. i have been working with parents for over 8 years in various contexts and i recently founded two rivers therapy so that I could shift the focus of my work with families to the perinatal and postpartum period. during my first year of motherhood, i struggled with postpartum anxiety while working full time as a community based family therapist. the sleep deprivation was other level. everything changed for me when i realized that it was possible for me to take control of my career and life and make changes that would allow me to enjoy both my career and motherhood more. i began to learn about postpartum mood and anxiety disorders (pmads) and decided to start a private practice dedicated to increasing awareness and access to services to prevent and treat pmads. my background is in social work and public health, and my approach to therapy has always been holistic. i approach each family with the assumption that all parents have good intentions, love their children, and are the experts in their own children (even if you don't feel like you are!), and my goal is always to help parents to feel more confident and comfortable in their role as parents. when not working, cleaning up or trying to catch up on sleep, i am happiest when I cooking with my husband, having a dance party with my son, or attempting to make time for my amazing crew of incredibly supportive friends and family. check out trtherapy.com for more information about my new practice!
Maria Lopez
When Maria became a mom for the first time, she realized the importance of a good night sleep for her entire family. Immediately, she developed a passion for children's sleep. Her philosophy is very simple. She believes that having a routine is the backbone to good sleep habits and happy kids. She works with families to come up with solutions tailored to their needs. She designs plans that are easy to follow and respects your limits. Her specialties include sleep plans, soothing techniques for baby and routine establishment. I Maria has a degree in psychology from Georgia State University with an emphasis in child psychology and over 18 years of professional childcare . experience. She’s also a certified Happiest Baby Educator, a certified Sleep Sense Sleep consultant, and more importantly a mother to Alina, 5, and Luna, 2.
tegan bernstein
Tegan lives in Francisville and is a mother who worked in food systems with a focus on food justice for 15 years. Tegan is founder of Ten Moons Wellness (@tenmoonswellness) where she offers movement based trainings and pelvic floor support to in addition to musings, information and ideas on cooking for and feeding families. Tegan has studied with Alex Auder (Magu Yoga) and is a graduate of the WakeUp! Yoga 250hr Teacher Training, PranaKriya Prenatal training, the BirthFit postpartum strength series and Leslie Howards Pelvic Floor YogaTM training program. She has also trained as a doula, postpartum doula and lactation counselor.
marcella derosa
Marcella is a busy mom with 4 children, ages 13, 11, 9 and 5. Health and wellness are a big part of her life in caring for her family and clients alike! Birthing and parenting her own children has ignited a passion for preparing expectant and new parents for both their birth and parenting journeys. Along her own parenting journey, she became overtaken by the pressures of our society on parents but new mothers specifically, the recommendations and opinions from everywhere can be overwhelming ! Thankfully along the way, she was able to let go of the standards and expectations our culture puts on young families and move forward, following her own instincts! She quickly realized that it's not children who need to be trained, but parents who need to be taught that it's okay to listen to their heart and instincts. Marcella is passionate about guiding new families on their journey from birth, into the postpartum and beyond! Her goal is for families she works with to become better informed, knowledgeable and empowered to follow their own innate inner voice. Her approach as a Baby-Led Sleep Coach is to always have the parent-child relationship at the heart of her work with families. This attachment based care and guidance will help facilitate sleep challenges to fall into place. She strives to help pregnant people and new parents find their inner voice telling them what works best for them and their family and empower them to listen to it!
catherine lessman
Having a background in Child Development and Psychology and many years experience working with children, I have learned that there are many topics and events that come up in a young child's life, that sometimes parents need a little help with-that’s where I can help! Specializing in Potty Training, Healthy Eating Habits, Behavior Modification, Sleep Routines, and Specific Early Childhood Concerns, I have helped hundreds of families successfully potty train their child and develop healthy eating habits for the pickiest of eaters or allowed your household to get a full nights sleep. Being a mom myself, I know the overwhelming advice, self-help and guidance you are flooded with on a daily basis. At Miss Catherine Consulting, I take a personal approach to help each family individually tackle their issue with simple and easy tools to help you achieve success all while personalizing your plan to your family.
estee nadav
Estee Nadav is certified HypnoBirthing practitioner and a CAPPA trained postpartum doula. She is the mother of four beautiful children and a wife of a wonderful husband. Estee first experienced the beauty of HypnoBirthing with her first birth in 2005. Each of her other births were enhanced with HypnoBirthing as well and were amazing in a different ways. In 2010 she was inspired to help other expecting parents have powerful and positive births and officially became a HypnoBirthing Childbirth Educator. As a childbirth educator, her goal is to transform an expecting parent's journey into parenthood from a stressed and anxious time to a time filled with love, connection and calm as they meet their baby for the first time. Over the last ten years she has loved meeting parents from all areas of Philadelphia, Bucks and Montgomery counties and even South Jersey. She sees them walking into her class thirsty for information and hungry to change their mindset about birth. They finish the series always positive and confident about their birth and equipped with tools to use for a lifetime.
Dr. kindra scott
Dr. Scott is a native of Maryland who graduated from Temple University with a Doctorate of Physical Therapy. She is a Certified Lymphedema Therapist and has a strong interest in the development of infants and toddlers. Dr. Scott has gained valuable work experience at prominent children’s hospitals such as The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Kennedy Krieger Institute (Baltimore). She also brings a wealth of knowledge through work in a variety of pediatric settings including homecare, school-based, and outpatient.
holly colino
Holly has been in love with movement from her early days on roller skates to professional dancing with the Martha Graham Dance Company to teaching Yoga full time in NYC for 11 years. She is a certified 200-hour RYT and 300-hour RYT plus many more hours of Training in anatomy, applied positive psychology, and prenatal/postnatal training. Holly has over 10,000 hours of teaching experience and has lead yoga teacher trainings in New York and California. Holly teaches with just the right touch of love, levity, spirituality and Philly sass. She is inspired by the world around and the world within. Her creative, alignment-based, and themed sequences can revolve around myriad points of inspiration from a painting in the Guggenheim to an ancient yogic text. Holly empowers her students to love the body they live in one breath at a time and to always trust their own inner teacher.
Her company Move With Love, offers movement classes in-person, digitally, and on-demand in both Philly and New York. Holly is available for group classes, corporate classes, and privates.
For more info, check out www.movewithlove.com and her Instagram @move.with.love
Jacky petit-homme
Jacky began his career in finance in 2012 providing insurance consulting and retirement planning for families and business owners. Jacky joined Merrill Lynch in 2015 and works there as a Financial Advisor and Senior Portfolio Advisor. Jacky works closely with his clients to help build and implement custom plans to achieve their financial goals. Jacky was awarded the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ certification by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc.
courtney dill
Courtney Dill, MS, CCLS, LMT, CIMI, is a child life specialist at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. She is currently working in the capacity of training coordinator, where she guides practicum, intern, and cooperative students in the Department of Child Life, Education, and Creative Arts. Courtney’s interests include promoting well-being and alternative healthcare.
taylor johnson-gordon
Taylor Johnson-Gordon is food educator, herbalist, and founder of Sistah of the Yam, LLC, a Philadelphia based business whose mission is to help Black mothers who feel depleted grow resiliency in motherhood by cooking + preparing real, plant-based foods and herbal remedies. She has taught many herbal and cooking workshops all over Philadelphia, worked with clients 1:1 and is known for her warm and simple approach to cooking and healthy living. Taylor holds a particular interest in pregnancy and postpartum nutrition. She is a promoter of a whole, real-food, plant-based lifestyle and has been plant-based for over 7 years. Taylor holds a Bachelors of Science in Biology from Point Loma Nazarene University, a Masters of Arts in Christian Education from Princeton Theological Seminary, and is currently pursuing her Masters of Science in Nutrition and Integrative Health (with a focus on Herbal Medicine) from Maryland University School of Integrative Health as well as working towards becoming a Certified Nutrition Specialist (CNS). Taylor is an Oceanside, California native who lives in Philadelphia with her vegan family - her husband Jason and their almost 2-year old daughter. She has had one successful vegan pregnancy/homebirth and is expecting her second child this summer.
katy baker-cohen
Katy Baker-Cohen BSN, RN, IBCLC has always held a deep love for the well being of children and their families. Following the birth of her first child, Katy became acutely aware of how much support and learning it took to feel at ease nursing a child. After three years as an inpatient oncology nurse, Katy began working (and continues to work) as a maternal child nurse home visitor for the Philadelphia Nurse Family Partnership, an organization supporting first time families from pregnancy through the child’s second birthday. This intense work supporting families, exposed and grew Katy’s passion for the multifaceted benefits of breastfeeding and human milk for all families. While cultivating knowledge and self efficacy to feel ready to breast/chestfeed is tied to so many parts of life, Katy works to weave it all together, starting from what motivates the individual family. Katy became an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant shortly after the birth of her second child in 2016. Katy now takes every opportunity to expand her knowledge in the ever growing field of lactation, both through professional training and collaboration with the amazing birth worker community that exists in Philadelphia and nationally. Katy is the owner of Crescent Lactation Care, LLC and provides lactation support home visits in Philadelphia.
colleen elwood
Colleen Elwood bsn, rn, ibclc is a mama of 2 boys, a wife, and a public health nurse. After having her first son, Colleen saw an IBCLC and attended support groups to connect with others and to help guide her through the journey (and struggles) of breastfeeding her child. Colleen found comfort while sitting in a room with other new parents going through similar situations and she appreciated all that she learned from those groups. It was from this experience that Colleen went on to become an international board certified lactation consultant (IBCLC). Colleen's second son surprised everyone with an early arrival at 27 weeks. Her strong little lion, Leo, spent quite some time in the NICU. While the worries of the NICU were not easy, she left with a new perspective and understanding. And she adds breastfeeding in the NICU and beyond to her experiences! Colleen is a public health nurse in Philadelphia. She works with first time parents and families, supporting them from pregnancy until their child turns 2 years old. Colleen has a love for maternal, child, and family wellness. This passion influences how she practices as a RN and an IBCLC. Her goal is to offer the same warm, welcoming, and helpful encouragement that she received as a new parent. Colleen recognizes the importance of listening to a family about their experiences, problems, frustrations and successes! Every baby is different and sometimes putting the puzzle together can be a challenge, however Colleen hopes that she can help ease the stress of it all. Colleen is looking forward to meeting the Kith and Kin community and having parents feel the support and empowerment that can happen while connecting with other families.
elizabeth weinstein
Elizabeth Weinstein is a doula, breastfeeding counselor, and movement educator. She is a member of the Philly Doula Coop, Inner Circle Midwifery’s Inner Circle Doula Network, and supports incarcerated mothers as a back up doula through Maternity Care Coalition’s Momobile at Riverside. She believes in the power of the birthing body and works with clients to find connection and wisdom in their own bodies to safely and confidently move their way through labor.