Welcome to one of the longest established childbirth classes in New York City.

I have been teaching for 25 years and helped over 600 couples have a family-centered, loving birth.

Each birth was unique. Many did not go according to plan, but each couple was prepared to face what came their way, with knowledge, skills and practical experience. These couples’ real-life stories and experiences are woven into my classes as much as current facts and research.

 

I became a childbirth educator with the Bradley Method® after the birth of my first child, but I was originally inspired by my friend Patty. Her doctor promised a great birth, yet within minutes of arriving at the hospital she had every intervention in the book. Her episiotomy took 3 months to heal. I was convinced that birth didn’t have to be this frightening and medicalized. I began reading and learning. When I became pregnant with my first child, I switched to midwives from my OB/GYN and took Bradley classes.

 

My personal experience spans two very different births, both appropriate for their circumstances. My first daughter, Natasha, was born at 42 weeks, 2 weeks past her due date. I had a totally natural birth with no drugs or interventions, not even a fetal monitor, and breastfed immediately after delivery. I was up and about the same day, feeling terrific.

 

My second daughter, Olivia, came very prematurely at 25 weeks. She was delivered by C-section and went straight into an incubator, spending 4 months in the NICU fighting for her life. It took weeks for me to heal from my surgery and I pumped breast milk for Olivia as long as I could. She was tube-fed at first. She had many interventions and procedures, and she survived because of today’s technology.

 

That's what I what for my students - the safest birth possible. But there has to be a compelling medical reason to intervene in a healthy woman’s labor. Increasingly today, healthy moms are being subjected to unnecessary interventions that put them (and their babies) at greater risk and often lead to unnecessary surgery. It doesn’t have to be this way. I became a childbirth educator to empower parents to navigate the terrain between the loving, gentle birth they envision, and the medicalized interventions they often face at the hospital.

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I continually develop my classes, updating content and creating new ways to physically and emotionally prepare couples for birth. I emphasize the coach’s role, and effectively involve fathers and partners in birth.

 

Come join me! Learn how labor works, how you can cope and how to handle unexpected situations.

I’ll be your partner through birth and beyond.

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