Katherine graduated the midwifery program at State University of New York in 1994, receiving her certification from the American College of Nurse Midwives and being licensed by the state of New York.

"Prior to becoming a midwife, I had been employed as a nurse in Labor and Delivery at a major New York hospital. Fortunately, hospitals yielded to the women's movement to the extent that most have renovated their obstetric units with birthing rooms that look cozier (if you can imagine your bedroom littered with IV poles and a massive fetal monitor). Unfortunately, hospital policy still holds to the following routines whether the laboring woman is low or high risk:

Listen to what the woman has to say, they know themselves better then anyone else. This is the philosophy that I base my midwifery practice on. I learn from mothers and I discover new lessons from every birth. Birth is a sacred, individual experience for each family, and I understand that the care and support that I give is remembered for a lifetime.

Yuliya graduated in 2002 from State University of New York, Downstate Medical Center, with a Master of Science degree in Nurse Midwifery. She is certified by the American College of Nurse Midwives and licensed by the state of New York.

Asya first came to the Birth Center as a volunteer and, impressed with her intelligence and sensitivity to our clients and their families, she was quickly recruited as a birth assistant. Recommending her (highly) for admission to State University's Midwifery Program was a no-brainer. She graduated in July of 2005, was certified by the American College of Nurse Midwives and licensed by New York State.

Had we been busier at the time she graduated, we would have snatched her up for midwife duty. Instead, she provided Dr. Veridiano's clientele with care as close to that of the Birth Center as one can get in a hospital setting.

I began my midwifery career working in a hospital where I was lucky if I had 15 minutes to spend with each patient during an office visit. The majority of my time was spent charting notes as opposed to being with a woman during her labor. The hospital setting, with all the unnecessary interventions and cookie-cutter treatments truly went against the grain for me.

I'm thrilled to have been asked to join the Brooklyn Birthing Center (BBC), where I am free to practice midwifery the way I believe it should be done – as individualized as each woman and each labor is. At the BBC I have the opportunity to form relationships with our patients and their families; spend quality time addressing their concerns; and ultimately to share in their labor experience as more than just a provider, but as someone with a deep connection and caring for the women I have shared a nine month journey with."

James Ducey, M.D. is a board certified OB/GYN and Perinatologist (hi risk specialist) in charge of the Labor and Delivery Unit at Staten Island University Hospital (SIUH) as well as its Women's Center. He is an invaluable resource for us. He reviews our charts to insure that all is up to speed. In the very rare event that a woman develops a serious complication and his hospital is convenient for her, we may transfer her care to him.

An interesting factoid about Dr. Ducey: he will not permit any attending OB at SIUH to perform a primary elective cesarean section. He is convinced of what is already becoming apparent – that the maternal mortality rate in the U.S. (while low) is on the rise because of the dramatic increase in cesarean sections.

Sol Neuhoff, M.D. is a board certified OB/GYN with a practice in Brooklyn. He most often attends our births when we (the midwives) need his expertise and, boy, are we glad. Aside from having skills no longer being taught…aside from being an eminently fine human being, he is the least interventionist physician that any of us has ever worked with. Clearly, when we need him, it is because we require an intervention of some sort. However, we have often seen him go out of his way to avoid a cesarean section if the circumstances allow.

Norma Veridiano, M.D. is a board certified OB/GYN. Though she has retired from the practice of Obstetrics (a great loss for women in general and for us specifically) she remains a terrific resource for those of our clients in need of gynecological follow-up (of those conditions not within the purview of midwives). Her office is downstairs from the birth center.

Yumna joined our staff in September, 2006. After passing the birth center yet again, she realized "What the hey…nothing ventured, nothing gained." She walked in, all the qualifications in tow, and inquired about a job (at precisely the moment we were losing Christine, our much loved office manager of 3 years). Not only did she know and appreciate what a birth center was, she had visited Ina May Gaskin's Farm in Tennessee.

While skilled in managing an office, her labors of love have included working with her Father's foundation, supplying seed and foodstuffs to women and children in the mountain regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan at winter's end when those supplies have been exhausted.

Eva has been a birth assistant since September 2008. She has worked as a doula and plans on becoming a midwife.

I fell in love with BBC after having my two daughters here. My birth experiences here were so joyous and inspiring that since 2004, I have been a birth assistant for BBC. Currently, I am also a student midwife at SUNY Downstate Medical Center and a breastfeeding counselor. BBC is a haven of normal childbirth amidst a city of over medicated birth.

Kandia has been a birth assistant at the Brooklyn Birthing Center since 2005. She is working on becoming a certified nurse midwife/massage therapist. She's known for her "magic hands", as she massages willing women in labor.

Kate has been a birth assistant since March of 2008. She is also a DONA trained doula and hopes to eventually become a midwife. Kate believes that birth is a rite of passage- powerful, beautiful and intense. She maintains a true commitment to supporting and nurturing all women in their birth experiences with compassion and positive energy.

Katherine was drawn into the birth community while living in Ghana where she guided a dear friend through relaxation techniques and postpartum massage. This lay experience was so profound she was compelled to pursue her certification as a birth doula, and is on the path to becoming a nurse midwife. Katherine sees pregnancy and birth as a rebirth of the female self, an unparalleled moment of shift; she aims to best serve her dynamic female community and their little ones by providing unbiased information and unconditional support…helping the women who birth with her find the power and intense love inherent in the birth process as a source of energy and confidence to be carried throughout motherhood.

Regina has been working at the Brooklyn Birthing Center since 2005. She is currently in Nursing School and hopes to be a midwife soon. Along with school and assisting births at the birth center, she runs the only cloth diaper service in NYC. Queen Bee Diaper Service . She also is a natural birth advocate and accepts private doula clients on a referrals basis. She has been here at the BBC longer than any other birth assistant and is dedicated to making every birth unique, safe, and comfortable.

Shalawn Facey is a New York native, who grew up in Brooklyn. She had her first child in 2003 and became totally committed to motherhood. As a breastfeeding mother she quiclkly realized the importance of great support for breastfeeding moms. It was soon after that she began training and working as a post partum doula. She has since began supporting women in labor as well.

Shalawn has a passion for working with women and children. She is a trained doula with years of experience. When shes not working as a doula, you can find Shalawn working as a Birth Assistant here at the Brooklyn Birthing Center. She has been a Birth Assistant with us since 2007. She believes that women should have support before, during and after childbirth.

She currently lives in Brooklyn with her family. She is now the mother of two children and enjoys spending time with them any opportunity she gets.