Loss Resources

Birth Circle Lending Library

Additional Resources

ATHENS AREA BIRTH WORKERS

The following is meant to be a comprehensive list of Athens area birth workers and is in no way intended to endorse any particular provider. If you are seeking recommendations, we suggest you attend a Birth Circle meeting and ask attendees for input. If you have information on this page that needs to be updated or you would like to be listed as a resource, please contact us at athensbirthcircle@gmail.com.

BIRTH DOULAS:

  • Kailyn Browning, DONA trained, SBD
    • Birthsource
    • Empowering, supporting, and equipping the Mid-Ohio Valley and surrounding areas.  At any vaginal or belly birth; home or hospital; in any trimester and outcome.
    • Call or text 740-818-5039
    • support@mybirthsource.com
    • www.mybirthsource.com
    • See her Birth Circle monthly meeting presentation, “Postpartum Mood Support” here!
  • Marlene Waechter, DEM
    • Experienced home birth midwife, also available for monitrice or hospital doula services.
    • 740-710-1218
    • marlenecpm@frontier.com
    • See her Birth Circle monthly meeting presentation on Homebirth or Hospital Birth here!
  • Megan Neal, Doula
  • Melanie Linscott, DONA trained Birth Doula
    • Offering in person and virtual doula services
    • 740-590-6716
    • MyDoulaMelanie@hotmail.com
    • See her Birth Circle monthly meeting presentation, “Birth Prep with a Doula” here!
  • Rachel Kline, CD(DONA) Certified Birth Doula

BREASTFEEDING SUPPORT:

  • Appalachian Breastfeeding Network
    • 888-588-3423 24-Hour Breastfeeding Helpline
  • Be Well Chiropractic
    • Chiropractic adjustments to help resolve breastfeeding issues
    • 740-591-7788
  • Ebb & Flow Lactation Services, LLC
    • Julie Gladney, BS, LPN, IBCLC
    • Offering clinical infant feeding care as well as parent classes.  In-network with Anthem, BCBS, Aetna, & Meritain insurance plans.
    • 217 Columbus Rd Suite 101, Athens, OH 45701
    • 740-306-0624
    • More info at site
    • Or schedule online
    • See her and Cassie Meek’s Birth Circle monthly meeting presentation, “Let’s Talk About Breastfeeding,” here.
  • Elizabeth Vandendries
  • Help Me Grow Athens
  • Hocking County LC Services
    • Nikki Hankison RN, CLC, IBCLC
    • 740-385-3030 ext 229
  • Holzer Gallipolis
  • Hopewell Health Centers
    • Mary McPherson APRN MSN WHNP-BC CLC CTTS Lactation Support and Clinical Assessment
      • Nelsonville 740-797-2352 or Pomeroy 740-992-0540
    • Early Childhood Team
  • La Leche League
    • available for breastfeeding information and support by phone
    • Cassie Meek, 740-707-2519 (Athens county)
    • Sherri 740-274-0835 (Athens county)
    • Jackie 740-590-9994 (Athens County)
    • Jennifer 740-645-3269 (Jackson area)
    • Charla 740-416-9133 (Middleport area)
    • http://www.athenslll.com/
    • La Leche League Facebook page
    • http://www.llli.org/
    • See Cassie Meek and Julie Gladney’s Birth Circle monthly meeting presentation, “Let’s Talk About Breastfeeding,” here.
  • Marietta Memorial Hospital Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine
    • Osteopathic manipulation care to help resolve breastfeeding issues
    • Anna Wright, DO and Imber Coppinger, DO
    • 740-592-4229
  • Penny Williams RN, BSN, IBCLC
    • Ohiohealth O’Bleness Hospital lactation consultant, also offering Breastfeeding Preparation Webinars.
    • Learn from lactation educators about the natural process of breastfeeding, lactation and physiology of the breast, positioning, identification of infant feeding cues, nutrition and storage of breast milk.  *Schedule in the second trimester for best availability.  Plan to attend 4-6 weeks prior to your due date.
    • Register here: https://ohio-class.hospitals.healthgrades.com/wlp2/classes/info/WBF
    • penny.williams2@ohiohealth.com
    • 740-592-9364
  • Pregnancy Resource Center
  • River Valley Lactation
  • WIC
    • Athens WIC Office
      • Kate Tuttle, breastfeeding peer counselor
      • kaitlin.tuttle@hopewellhealth.org
      • 740-856-0247
      • “Postpartum consults and breastfeeding classes are my specialty”
    • Look up your local WIC office here.

CHILDBIRTH CLASSES:

  • Embodied Birth Class
    • A single-weekend virtual online childbirth course based out of Athens and taught by certified professional midwife Ash Dasuqi. It gives pregnant people and support persons the knowledge they need to increase their likelihood of having a safe, healthy, and connecting birth. The trauma-informed, gender-affirming class gives people skills to engage the persistent fears that may impede smooth birthing. It covers all the birth process anatomy and essentials, and provides valuable skills for pain management, chest/breastfeeding, nutrition, somatic/body-based preparation, advocating for preferences with providers, and attachment & parenting techniques. 
    • www.embodiedbirthclass.com
  • EmerGently Childbirth Class
    • Marlene Waechter, DEM (home birth midwife)
    • A two-hour class useful for all families that may be birthing alone, either planned as unassisted or due to a fast labor or inclement weather.  Topics include maintaining a healthy lifestyle to minimize complications, herbal remedies for pregnancy, labor, birth & post partum; normal progression of labor & common variations; at-home comfort measures; managing the more common complications, when to head for the hospital or call 911.  Also covers how to file the birth certificate, including how to calculate the APGAR score.  Available individually, in your own home, or in small groups.
    • Call to schedule: 740-710-1218
    • See her Birth Circle monthly meeting presentation on Homebirth or Hospital Birth here!
  • Esali Birth – Danielle Bergum – @MOVbirth
    • Online subscription-based perinatal education focusing on realistic holistic birth prep for free-birth and supported birth, home to hospital.  (Live in-person or virtual classes scheduled as-requested)
    • 304-482-4729
  • Gentle Birth with Cassie Garcia and Kailyn Browning
    • Combining brain science, birth science and technology, we help empower your positive birth through an understanding of the process and stages of labor, how to harness our own thinking to facilitate an easier birth, physical comfort measures, and much more! GentleBirth will help you decide what birth preferences are best for you, navigate your birth setting to help them actually happen, and feel calm, confident and in control even if things don’t go as you had hoped.  Offering Facebook-based and individual or group in-person workshops in Athens, Parkersburg, Belpre, and Marietta areas.
    • www.mybirthsource.com/childbirth-education
    • 740-315-8727 or 740-818-5039
    • cassandra-garcia@outlook.com or support@mybirthsource.com
    • facebook.com/gentlebirthwithcassie and facebook.com/mybirthsource
    • See their Birth Circle monthly meeting presentation, “The Stages of Labor”, here!
  • Holzer Gallipolis
  • O’Bleness Memorial Hospital Childbirth Classes

MIDWIVES:

  • Angelita Nixon, CNM
    • Full scope midwifery specializing in homebirth and water birth, VBACs supported.
    • 304-757-9006
    • www.anmidwife.com
  • Ash Dasuqi, CPM
    • Queer midwife providing gender-affirming care.
    • Currently an assistant midwife in the home birth setting.
    • 248-894-6988         
    • embodiedbirthclass@gmail.com
    • See their Birth Circle monthly meeting presentation on Pain in Labor here!
  • Cynthia Jefferson, CNM and Jeri S. Kitchen, CNM
    • Holzer Health System
    • Attending births at Holzer Hospital in Gallipolis.  Both have offices at Gallipolis, with Jeri also seeing patients at Holzer Meigs in Pomeroy.
  • Denay May, CNM
    • Marietta Memorial Hospital Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
    • Attending births at Marietta Memorial Hospital
    • Office locations in Belpre and Marietta, OH
    • 740-374-3622
    • www.mhsystem.org
  • Erica Andrews, CPM
  • Lauren Genter, CPM
  • Marlene Waechter, DEM
    • D. Livery Services specializing in homebirth, VBACs, twins, waterbirths; monitrice or hospital doula services.
    • 740-710-1218
    • marlenecpm@frontier.com
    • See her Birth Circle monthly meeting presentation on Homebirth or Hospital Birth here!
  • Piper Woods
    • Over 30 years of experience helping families with homebirth, prenatal care, childbirth classes and breastfeeding.
    • 740-698-6243 or 740-590-0730

Postpartum Doulas

  • Kailyn Browning, DONA trained Postpartum Doula
    • Birthsource
    • Empowering, supporting, and equipping the Mid-Ohio Valley and surrounding areas. Here to help make your transition to newborn parenting easier by coming alongside and building your confidence as a parent. In-home help and tips on newborn care, feeding, emotional support for the whole family, household help, sibling care, and referrals to other help as needed.
    • Call or text 740-818-5039
    • support@mybirthsource.com
    • www.mybirthsource.com
    • See her Birth Circle monthly meeting presentation, “Postpartum Mood Support” here!
  • Kristin Fleming, Postpartum Care Provider
    • Holistic care for all birthing people and pregnancy outcomes including sleep support, nourishing meal prep, household management and sibling care
    • portals.postpartum@gmail.com
    • 614-602-1268

Sharing Practitioner Feedback

There are several options for giving feedback when you don’t receive the kind of care you would like for yourself or your baby.  Some options include, but are not limited to:

— If your caregiver is a nurse, you might be able to ask to talk with her directly, perhaps with your partner present and a colleague of the person’s present as well.  You could also contact the nurse manager of the hospital’s labor and delivery unit.

— If your caregiver is a practitioner, you might talk with him or her directly, perhaps with your partner present and a colleague of the person’s present as well.  You could also follow up with the practice at which the practitioner works.  If you don’t feel that the situation has been resolved, you can let the state medical board know.  For more information in Ohio, go to     www.med.ohio.gov.  In West Virginia go to www.wvdhhr.org/WVbom.

— If your caregiver is a midwife, you might talk with her directly, perhaps with your partner present and a colleague of the person’s present as well. If you don’t feel that the situation has been resolved, you can alert your state’s midwifery organization. For Ohio, see www.ohiomidwives.org.

Of course, you can always vote with your feet and not return to a practitioner.  If you want to continue to be seen by the other practitioners at a practice, you might choose to remain with a practice but refuse to be seen by a particular care provider.  However, working with the person and his or her colleagues and the boards who certify a practitioner provides more thorough input and feedback to the larger community about possible care concerns.

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