Select a name below to learn more about our knowledgeable and experienced teachers and speakers.
Angelique Millette
Anna Griffin
Anna Hurty
Beth Hammond
Carrie Flemming, M.A.
Chris Schlesinger
Erin Stege, RN, MSN, CPNP
Gina Hassan, Ph.D.
Jason Nery
Kathy Woo
Kim Lyons
Liz Creditor
Meghan Lewis, PhD, CMT
Molly Brannigan
Natashia Fuksman
Nickie Tilsner
Paula Santi
Sabrina Easterling, MPH, IBCLC, ICCE
Shiela VanDerveer, CPM LM
Stacia Biltekoff, CMT, CD
Suzanne Harkless
Tabitha Ames
Yeshi Neumann
Angelique Millette
Angelique Millette (PhDc, MFTt, PCD/CD [DONA]) is a parent coach, sleep consultant, infant/toddler sleep and postpartum mood disorder researcher, lactation educator, DONA-certified birth and postpartum doula, and infant-child therapist intern who has worked with families across the Bay Area, the United States and Europe for the past 15 years. She specializes in infant/child development and how parents can meet their own sleep needs while helping their young ones meet theirs. Angelique does not follow one specific sleep program, but rather helps families by taking into account family schedule, infant/toddler/child development, temperament, and parenting philosophy, all while keeping an eye on sleep deprivation, parental overwhelm, depression and anxiety. Angelique’s doctoral research addresses the correlation between infant sleep locations/methods, maternal postpartum depression/anxiety, and maternal attachment. Angelique teaches sleep workshops at Day One in San Francisco, The Parents Center in San Rafael, BirthWays in Berkeley, and professional conferences across the country.
Visit www.angeliquemillette.com for more information.
Anna Griffin
Anna Griffin is an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) with more than 20 years experience teaching CPR and First Aid to schools, businesses and healthcare professionals. Instructor certified by the American Heart Association, she has taught at Alta Bates Medical Center for many years, and is currently Training Center Faculty at Washington Hospital in Fremont. She is committed to teaching classes that are fun, engaging and low stress.
Anna has been active in the birth community for over twenty years. She began her work in Berkeley where she helped start the volunteer doula program at Alta Bates Hospital while working as a childbirth educator, tour guide, lecturer, certified doula (having now attended over to 400 births), and serving on several birth-related committees. After moving to Palo Alto, she founded the non-profit Blossom Birth Services and served as its Executive Director while becoming a Dona-approved doula trainer, and teaching prenatal classes at Stanford and Palo Alto Medical Foundation. At Stanford she created and taught the first “Natural Birth Prenatal Series” and taught half-day trainings entitled “Non-Medical Pain Management” to third-year residents. While at Blossom, she created and taught several doula trainings, attended Elizabeth Davis’ midwifery training. After moving to the midwest Anna became nationally certified as an EMT and worked in the trauma center at Trinity Hospital in Illinois.
Now back “home” in Oakland, Anna spends her time teaching private and group VBAC and birth preparation classes, encapsulating placentas, working as a doula, training doulas, creating and decorating belly casts. She is the wife of Mark and mother of two grown sons (and a wonderful daughter-in-law Zina!) whose amazing company she enjoys whenever possible.
Beth Hammond has been a birth and postpartum Doula for 14 years and has helped hundreds of families
prepare, adjust and transition to parenthood. Beth received her B.A. in Psychology from Cal State Hayward and trained as a doula with Doulas of North America and Newborn Connections. A mom to 2 boys, Beth knows the challenges new parents face and what support is needed. Beth began teaching in 1998 and has attained her California Adult Teaching Credential. She currently teaches Newborn Care and Childbirth Preparation Intensive. Her private practice includes being a Labor and Postpartum Doula as well educating new parents on how to prepare for childbirth and how to care for themselves and their babies after birth. www.doulabeth.com
Carrie Flemming, M.A.
Carrie Flemliming is a birth advocate and visual artist with experience supporting families in community as a birthing doula, counselor, health worker, group facilitator & nanny. She is a Certified HypnoBirthing Practitioner, and holds master’s degrees in Transpersonal Counseling Psychology from John F. Kennedy University and Women’s Spirituality & Social Change from New College of California. Carrie’s support is compassionate, open, creative and from the heart, and she hopes to inspire people to access their innate power, potential and creativity.
Chris is a safety instructor for the American Heart Association and the American Red Cross. A long-time comedic actor, Chris brings a fun,
lighthearted tone to his classes, and encourages his students to ask the infant and child safety questions most important to them. His classes include plenty of hands-on instruction to ensure that you understand the material you’re learning. His goal for all his students is to become confident that they will know how to use their
safety skills in an emergency.
Gina Hassan, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist and mother of two, who focuses on working with women around pregnancy and early motherhood. She has a private practice in Berkeley, CA and runs mindfulness groups with new, (and not so new), moms. She has over 20 years experience as a psychotherapist and has been specializing in working around issues related to pregnancy and the postpartum transition for over a decade. She has trained as a mindfulness teacher and integrates mindfulness practices into her work with new and expecting parents. She has written and taught in the field of perinatal psychology and is a founding member of Perinatal Psychotherapy Services. She has been on the board of BirthWays for over 2 years.
Jason has provided health education to youth, adults and in-service training to medical personnel for over 10 years. He is currently a Mental Health Counselor / Disaster Preparedness Liaison for the County of San Mateo as well as an Instructor for the American Red Cross. As a former preschool teacher and current nursing student, Jason has a passion for empowering parents to help children reach their highest potential.
Kathy Woo is a Certified Hypnotherapist, Birth Doula and HypnoBirthing® Practitioner/Childbirth Educator. She holds a Master’s degree in Clinical
Psychology and has been a counselor and case manager in a variety of mental health facilities. Kathy’s passion is helping women connect to their intuition, bodies and creativity. She loves being a part of the birth journey and supporting new families in finding their own way. Her interest and studies are in Buddhism, yoga, shamanism, crafts and energy medicine.
Kim is a certified massage therapist trained at the Esalen Institute in their advanced studies program. She also has certification in CranioSacral therapy through the Upledger Institute and additional training in other modalities. She holds a Masters in Early Childhood Development/ Education and focuses much of her practice on pediatrics and pre and post natal care. In addition, she is a doula, a yoga instructor for children with special needs and has lead play and infant massage groups in the Bay Area for over 10 years. You can find more information at her web site: www.tumetime.com.
Liz Creditor is a Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator. Her path towards becoming a childbirth instructor began with the birth of her first daughter by Cesarean section after 4 hours of pushing in 2002. After the birth of her son in 2005, a VBAC (vaginal birth after Cesarean), and with the encouragement of her husband and doula, she began training to become a childbirth educator.
She also holds a Masters Degree in Infant and Parent Development from Bank Street College of Education in NYC and worked with infants and toddlers for a few years before becoming a mom. In addition to teaching at Birthways, she also teaches private VBAC classes.
Meghan is the founder of Integrative Psychological Services in Oakland, CA next to Alta Bates Summit Medical Center. With over 15 years of experience in maternal mental health, Meghan brings unconditional support to her
clients exploring a range of preconception, pregnancy and postpartum issues. Additionally, in her private practice, she works with LGBTQ families, with solo parents by choice, adoptive parents and with multiple-parent families. Her approach is influenced by her interests in embodied mindfulness, transpersonal and ecofeminist theory, art therapy and holistic healthcare practices. Meghan also has professional training and experience in perinatal bodywork and as an apprentice midwife and birth doula. She is a solo parent by choice of a 5 year old son and serves on the BirthWays Board of Directors as the resource coordinator. To read more about her go to: www.meghanlewisphd.com.
Molly Brannigan, MA, ICCE, IBCLC
Molly Brannigan, MA, ICCE, IBCLC has been working with expectant parents, babies and new mothers since 2004. She provides non-judgmental, inclusive Childbirth Education that encompasses a variety of techniques and strategies, and supports parents in preparing for a meaningful and personal birth experience. She hopes that over the course of her class, parents will develop confidence in themselves, discover the path that is right for them and build community with other families.
In her Breastfeeding class, Molly employs her training in infant and child nutrition and her experience as a Board-Certified Lactation Consultant to provide families the support and information they need to develop a successful, easy, and satisfying breastfeeding relationship with their babies.
The more time she spends with mothers and babies, the more Molly is struck by the capabilities of newborn babies, the depth of mothers’ intuitive knowledge of their babies, and the intensity of the relationships that babies and parents create together. Molly is the mother of three children.
Natashia Fuksman is a certified birth doula (DONA), certified postpartum doula (DONA), certified childbirth educator (CEA/MNY), and a DONA-Approved Birth Doula Trainer. Natashia has been attending births since 1998 and has been teaching childbirth education since 2005. She is aformer board member of DONA International, Childbirth Education Association of Metropolitan New York, and the Co-founder and former Director of The With Woman Doula Cooperativa. Through all of her years of working with parents, Natashia continues to be amazed by the strength and devotion involved within each member of a family unit, as babies are born and as we work towards developing loving relationships. Originally from New York, Natashia and her family now reside in Berkeley, CA.
Nickie Tilsner is a Certified Doula, Doula Trainer, and Childbirth Educator with over ten years experience in the birthing community. She began her training ten years ago with a midwifery apprenticeship in a free-standing birth center in San Francisco. Throughout the last decade she has worked as a Labor and Postpartum Doula having attended births in all settings. She has also worked as an outreach worker, HIV test counselor and crisis counselor, as well as founding a doula training program and teaching integrated methods childbirth preparation courses to expectant mamas and couples. Nickie is the proud mother of Violette, who was born in 2007.
Paula Santi has been active in the birth community since 2001. She is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (say that three times fast!) who makes home visits. She lives in Walnut Creek with her husband and sons. www.paulasanti.com
Erin Stege is a pediatric nurse practitioner and has worked at Children’s Hospital Oakland for the past six years. She went into the field of nursing so that she could work with babies, children and families, and absolutely loves what she does. She obtained her master’s degree in pediatric nursing at Vanderbilt and completed a lactation educator course through the University of California-San Diego.
In addition to my professional experience, she is also the mother of a little boy born in 2009. Motherhood has been a tremendous experience and has made her even more excited about working with children and families.
Sabrina Easterling, MPH, IBCLC, ICCE
Sabrina began working with breastfeeding families following more than a decade of experience in public health, perinatal health, and reproductive health training. Passionate about supporting women as they learn about their bodies, their babies, and breastfeeding, she dedicates much of her time helping lead MilkSupport.com and the Lactation Services program for BirthWays, where she facilitates the new Breastfeeding Café & Clinic and serves as a lactation consultant. Additionally, she works at UCSF as a perinatal educator and at California Pacific Medial Center as both a prenatal lactation educator and providing in-hospital lactation support in the days after the baby is born. Sabrina holds a Master’s degree in Public Health from Boston University, specializing in Maternal and Child Health, is a graduate of the UC San Diego Lactation Consultant program.
To learn more, find Sabrina at www.milksupport.com.
She began her initial midwifery training in 1999 and completed her clinical and academic training in Taos, New Mexico through the Northern New Mexico Midwifery Center and the National College of Midwifery in 2005. Since this time she has been in private practice both in Northern New Mexico and in the Bay Area of California. Please check out her midwifery website at www.comadresmidwifery.com to learn more about her practice.
As part of her commitment to establishing global access to midwifery care, she began a small nonprofit in 2004, called the Gatekeepers Fund. The fund is dedicated to “Giving Childbirth Back to Women” by helping to provide midwives (including students) in areas of need and raising awareness of this global need through artistic educational campaigns. Please check out www.gatekeepersfund.org to learn more about our mission.
Stacia Biltekoff has been serving families in the East Bay since 1991 with a background in early childhood development, social work and massage therapy. In 1998 she became nationally certified in massage with a specialty in injury treatment and prenatal massage. In 2001, shortly after giving birth, a few friends invited her to provide labor support for them and a doula was born. She hopes that with unconditional support, informed consent and non-judgmental guidance, the mother has an empowered birthing experience no matter the outcome. She also aims to support partners so that labor can give the couple an opportunity to strengthen their bond on their journey toward parenthood. Stacia has been on the board of Birthways since 2006 and has served as both referral line coordinator and publications co coordinator. She is committed to providing unconditional support to pregnant, laboring, and postpartum women and their families through her work as a Birth and postpartum doula, childbirth educator, support group facilitator and most importantly, mama.
Suzanne Harkless is a Certified Instructor for the Baby Signs® Program. She teaches sign language to help families discover the joys of signing with their babies, and the enhanced communication which results. She offers an introductory Parent Workshop for BirthWays and teaches Baby Signs play classes at preschools and community centers in the East Bay.
Originally obtaining Bachelor’s degrees in Biology and Psychology, Tabitha worked as a Research Associate in a
molecular biology lab. Leading up to the birth of her daughter in July 2008, she researched and studied everything she could about birth and support, and knew that after the birth she wouldn’t be able to leave the birthing community. Shortly thereafter, she trained and certified as a Childbirth Educator through CAPPA and has been teaching childbirth classes since April 2009. Becoming further involved in supporting new families, she was trained again through CAPPA as a Postpartum Doula in June and as a Labor Doula in September 2010. She is expecting the arrival of her second child some time in February 2011
Yeshi Neumann has been working as a midwife since 1970, both in the US and internationally. In 2000, she created Homestyle Midwifery, a unique
model of care, blending home and hospital birth.
Yeshi is a dedicated student and practitioner of Mindfulness. She has participated in the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Professional Training Program with Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD and in the Mindfulness-Based Childbirth and Parenting Professional Training Program with Nancy Bardacke, CNM.
In addition to being a Certified Nurse Midwife, Yeshi has a Masters degree in History and a Masters degree in Public Health. She is a regular speaker at national and international conferences.
Yeshi is the mother of two daughters and the grandmother of two granddaughters, both of whome were born into her own hands. www.mindfulfamilycircles.com
