Janel’s path into birth work was anything but ordinary - it was organic, unrelenting and deeply personal. A self-proclaimed “birth nerd”, her early fascination with the physiology of the human placenta blossomed into a formal career in medicine. She pursued clinical obstetrics at the University of Vermont Medical Center, publishing work in medical education and community health, before realizing her vocation as a birth worker that blends science, advocacy and human connection.

In 2016, she traveled to Kampala, Uganda to work alongside midwives at Mulago National Hospital delivering up to 70 babies a day. The experience was life-changing - a deep immersion into global maternal health that reshaped her path. Her essay chronicling these months won international recognition from the Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH), establishing her voice as both emerging clinician and storyteller of birth’s universal power. A graduate of New York University with a degree in art history and graduate research in neuroscience, Janel has built her life on dualities: science and spirit, evidence and intuition, global perspective and deeply rooted community work.

Janel’s work relies on her fluency in both hospital culture and medical systems to help her clients navigate shifting policies in labor and in-hospital postpartum care. A seasoned educator, Janel also served five years as Senior Birth Consultant for Phoebe, where she designed an online childbirth prep curriculum now available to families across the US, UK and Canada. She provides families with evidence-based information so they can make the most informed decisions.

When she is not attending births, Janel is consulting for industry leaders like Maven Clinic and We Conceive, or tending to her clients as a certified yoga teacher, Pilates instructor, reiki therapist and somatic practitioner. Janel integrates trauma-informed somatic therapeutics in the birth setting when working with families with histories of PTSD and c-PTSD. Her approach to somatics is grounded in polyvagal theory, and has been honed by trainings and mentorship with therapist Linda Thai and trauma expert Jen Nigro. Janel’s work is a kaleidoscopic tapestry of modalities - science and spirituality - offering a vision of care that is as holistic as it is grounded in the realities of birth for individual birthing families. She weaves her passions in advocacy, empowered birth and compassionate care to serve expecting families.

For her, birth is a sacred threshold - a monumental and transformative experience for the birthing person, birthing family, and community. Her own unplanned home birth with her first added even more personal conviction to her belief in the positive impact birth support and holistic prep can have for expecting families. Janel lives in New York City with her husband, children and dogs.