About Jo

I am a doula, childbirth educator, & midwife's assistant based in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn. A native of the Chicago suburbs, I have lived and worked in New York City since 2005.

With my daughter, Penelope.

I trained as a birth doula in August 2008 and attend births in Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens in all settings – hospital, home, and birth center. In addition to my doula work, I am in the process of becoming a Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator and hope to be offering group childbirth ed classes in Brooklyn soon. I am currently available to teach private classes. [Learn more about my services here.]

I am a member of the NYC Doula Co-op, where I serve on the Board of Directors, am an active member of La Leche League, and work part-time as office manager & birth assistant at Community Midwifery, a Brooklyn homebirth practice.

I have long been interested in women’s reproductive health and well-being. I worked as a family educator in a group home for pregnant and parenting teenage girls after college; served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Romania where I taught high school English and was involved in gender equality issues; and spent three years working at The Commonwealth Fund, a policy think tank, while earning a graduate degree in health policy analysis.

Meeting Ina May Gaskin in 2008In my spare time, I volunteer at Planned Parenthood of New York City and am a member of First Unitarian Congregational Society in Brooklyn, where I have taught in the Religious Education program, including middle school sexuality education. I also write at Outta Jo, Onto You, a personal parenting blog where I overshare about my daughter’s growth and development in order to appease her Midwestern grandparents stuck half-way across the country.

In October 2009, I gave birth to my first child - my daughter, Penelope. I am also the proud aunt of more than a dozen little ones. 

Kind Words

If you'd like to read testimonials about my work from friends, family, & former clients, please visit the Kind Words tag on the blog.

If you are a former client, please consider sharing your thoughts about our experience together. You can either email me directly or submit them to my profile at DoulaMatch.net. As a doula, I am always interested in feedback so that I can continue to strengthen my practice and provide the best service possible to every family that hires me. Thanks! <3