Director: Paula Caggiano

Paula Caggiano is a SAHM, who after having an uneducated, “traditional” hospital childbirth experience with her first pregnancy, knew that she wanted her second one to be very different. After educating herself along with her husband, she delivered her second baby at a midwifery center without any medical intervention and into the loving hands of her midwife. This life-changing experience has caused Paula to want to see all women given the necessary tools and information to be able to make educated decisions about their birth options.

 Leadership Team Member: Dana Robbins

Dana has had 3 vastly different birth experiences all within the setting of 2 local hospitals with the same OBGYN. Dana's first pregnancy was unplanned and very tumultuous but it ended up developing into a beautiful relationship with her birthson and his adoptive family. Compared to having a very traditional, epiduralized birth with her first son, Dana was more prepared for how she wanted to handle her next 2 pregnancies, labor, & delivery. And even though baby # 2, Levi, was a natural, unmedicated birth, she still wanted a more peaceful, relaxed, and in more control feeling of her next birth. And that's just what Jackson's labor & delivery was. Dana realized that it was her responsibility to take control of how she wanted to labor and deliver which meant researching her options outside of the box and communicating her needs with her doula, doctor, husband, and hospital staff. Dana's birth experience with her 2nd & 3rd sons was very empowering as she realized the natural design of her body to be able to conceive and bring a baby into this world without medical intervention. However, Dana is very aware of the women that might need medical intervention in order to conceive, maintain, and deliver their babies and is very thankful for the medical profession and their ability to assist them.

Leadership Team Member: Nicole McGowan

 Hi, I'm Nicole, SAHM of 3 wonderful children ..... I had the amazing opportunity to help at a home birth of a friend before I was married and had children, which empowered me to venture into the arena of natural birth.  All three of my births were amazing....first one at a birth center in TX and the next 2 at home in VA.  
My heart is to empower and encourage women to trust and listen to their bodies when it comes to the entire pregnancy and labor experience.

 Leadership Team Member: Liz Marshall

When I was pregnant with my first child in Pennsylvania, I chose a freestanding birth center with a practice of nurse-midwives. At the time, I had no idea how unique it was to establish a relationship with a midwife over long prenatal appointments that were as much about building trust as monitoring my pregnancy. When I was in labor, my midwife knew how to protect normal birth. Her skill contributed to my confidence and strength and I knew from the moment my daughter was born that this was something I wanted to share with other women. That was in 1991.

Four years later, as I was beginning my own training in labor support, my second daughter was born at home in Ohio with certified professional midwives. I also have a son who we adopted as a newborn.

I am a DONA-certified doula and an ICEA-certified childbirth educator. I have a master’s degree in public health. I would like all women to have the same kind of attention from a trusted caregiver that I had. I would like to see obstetricians care for high-risk pregnancies and midwives care for low-risk pregnancies. I would like to see more women seek out information on how to increase the odds of having a normal, healthy birth.