About Michelle

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Hi there! I'm Michelle, aka "Mama, Wife and Birth Advocate".  I have 3 wonderful kids and a sweetheart for a husband.  I naturally found my passion for pregnancy and birth during my own first pregnancy in 2004 when I began teaching prenatal yoga in a little maternity store in Jacksonville Beach.  From that point on, I was hooked!  My love of all things birth-related continued to grow with each of my three unmedicated, natural births... one hospital birth, one birth center birth & one homebirth.  My birth experiences helped shape my life as I realized how empowering and life-changing birth can be for women.  Because of this, I love supporting families and helping women achieve the birth they desire by assisting as their Doula, through Prenatal Yoga and with Hypnobabies and other Childbirth classes.
 
Peace & Blessings!
Michelle

Pregnancy & Birth Education/Certifications:

• Certified Prenatal Yoga Instructor, Discovery Yoga of St. Augustine, 2004

• Bradley Method of Natural Childbirth 12-Week Course, 2004

• Began working as a Birth Doula, 2009

• HypnoBirthing 5-Week Course, 2010

​• DONA trained Birth Doula, 2011

• DONA Breastfeeding Workshop, 2011

• Certified Hypnobabies Childbirth Hypno-Doula, 2016

• Certified Hypnobabies Childbirth Instructor, 2016

• Hypnobabies 50-hr. Hypnosis Course, 2016

• Hypnobabies Power of Birth Language Course, 2016

• Hypnobabies Becoming Dad Certification Course, 2016

• Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP) Provider, 2016

• Spinning Babies 2-Day Workshop (with Creator, Gail Tully in North Carolina), 2016

• PPD and Perinatal Mental Health 1-Day Workshop, 2017

• Evidence Based Birth course "Due Dates and Advanced Maternal Age", 2017

• Certified Lactation Counselor, Academy of Lactation Policy and Practice 2018

• Completed the "Prenatal Physical Health & Labor Prep" course 2019

• Part-Time Birth Doula 2009-2016

• Full-Time Birth Doula & Childbirth Educator, 2016 - Present

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Health & Wellness Education/Certifications:

• Certified AFAA Personal Trainer, 1995

• Certified AFAA Group Exercise Instructor, 1995

• Experience teaching - Yoga, Spin, Step, Strength, Core, Kickboxing, Bootcamp & Water Exercise

• Bachelors Degree in Health Science & Exercise Science, University of North Florida, 1997

• Masters Degree in Health Promotion and Health Education, University of North Florida, 1999

• Director of Country Club Fitness Center, 2001-2002

• Certified Yoga Fit Instructor, 2004

• Adjunct Health Professor, Florida State College Jacksonville & the University of North Florida, 2003-2016

 

Personal  Experience

• 3 Natural Births - one homebirth, one birth center birth & one hospital birth

• Breastfeeding - 10 years experience (Nursing each child 2.5-3.5 years)

• Baby Wearing - experience with slings, wraps & soft-structured carriers

• La Leche League Member (Breastfeeding Support Group) - 10 years

• Member of many online local Natural Birthing & Parenting Groups

• Cloth Diapering - 10 years experience

• Experience with Homeschool & Waldorf Education

• Experience with Safe Bed-Sharing/Co-Sleeping

• Experience with Attachment Parenting, API

• Pregnancy Loss - 3 miscarriages ​

• DCIS/Early Breast Cancer Survivor with Double Mastectomy & Reconstruction

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Here are a few of my birth pictures...