About
Welcome. We're excited to meet you!
As the birth team, we work together to provide homebirth services and doula services to the families of eastern Massachusetts.
We share a common philosophy and strong desire to support the women within our community.
We were recently featured on WCVB's Chronicle with one of our amazing clients. If you'd like to watch us in action, click the video to see what we're all about!
Our Staff
Jessica Petrone, CPM, BSN
Jessica Petrone, Certified Professional Midwife, RN, BSN
Midwifery came into my heart when I became a mother. My own birth experience ingnited my training as a doula which fueled my desire to become a midwife. I have been attending homebirths and hospital births since 2006. My educational path includes completing a three year midwifery program remotely through the National College of Midwifery in Taos, New Mexico; where I earned a degree in the Science of Midwifery concurrent with a two year apprenticeship in the Boston area. I earned the CPM credential in 2009. Most recently, I have completed a Bachelor in Science in Nursing which included a 6 month preceptorship in a high volume/high risk maternity unit at Massachusetts General Hospital. Professionally, I am a member of the Massachusetts Midwives Alliance and I served as co-president for four years. I represent the MMA on the Postpartum Depression Task Force for the MA DPH. I hold certifications in CPR and Neonatal Resuscitation and IV administration.
Sarafina Kennedy, CPM
Sarafina Kennedy, Certified Professional Midwife
I have been attending births since 2005. I began my work as a doula after training with the Association of Labor Assistants and Childbirth Educators. For my formal midwifery education I attended and graduated from Birthwise Midwifery School, a MEAC accredited school in Maine. Where I currently teach Midwifery skills classes. My clinical midwifery training has included a two and a half year apprenticeship with two different midwives as well as a 2 month intensive midwifery training at a high volume birth center in El Paso Texas. I have spent time in both Indonesia and the Philippines doing low resource, high volume midwifery. I am CPR, and Neonatal Resuscitation certified. I also hold masters degree in Sociology and Gender Studies from Brandeis University, where my studies were focused on childbirth and motherhood. I am also a childbirth educator and teach a comfort measures class at Mama and Me in Jamaica Plain.
Emily Bowler, CPM
Emily Bowler, CPM
My first steps into the world of birth work were inspired by attending the births of my nieces and nephews, as well as teaching reproductive health and childbirth every semester as a health teacher in New York City. I trained as a doula and childbirth educator in 2011 and have been attending births in the Greater Boston Area since 2013. I loved (and continues to love!) supporting families through my work as a doula and childbirth educator, but I knew early on that I also wanted to have a clinical role with my clients. I enrolled in Birthwise Midwifery School’s 3-year MEAC accredited program and fell in love with home birth midwifery. I worked with 6 different midwives in my 3 years of apprenticeship, and I've been attending births as a primary provider since 2015. I am CPR and Neonatal Resuscitation certified and an active member of the Massachusetts Midwives Alliance. I earned my credential as a Certified Professional Midwife in 2016 and opened my own practice, Modern Mama Midwifery, before deciding to officially join Sarafina and Jessica in 2018. I look forward to continuing to provide personalized, holistic care to families across Eastern Massachusetts!
Maria Caudle, Student Midwife
Maria
My relationship with birth work started in 2011 when a friend had invited me to her homebirth as her “doula”. At the time I had no idea what a doula was and tried to support her the best I could. Watching my young friend move through labor and choose how she wanted to birth sparked a love of supporting folks through the transition of parenthood. While finishing up my B.S. in Biology, I started my doula training at Birth Arts International and attending hospital births as a doula and through my Obgyn co-op. After some twists and turns, I attended Womancraft Midwifery Program as the foundation for my education and began looking for an apprenticeship to further my path to midwifery. In 2017, the stars aligned and I began my apprenticeship with Sarafina and Jessica. In addition to my work with Birth Matters, I offer full spectrum doula services, placenta encapsulation, childbirth education classes through That Darn Doula Birth Services and will be accepting homebirth clients in Fall 2019.
Tuly Duprat, Student Midwife
Stephanie Johnson, Student Midwife
Stephanie Johnson, Student Midwife
My love for pregnancy and birth began as a young child. Always drawn to “catching babies” with my girl friends during playtime I knew being a midwife was my calling early on. With my own children, each pregnancy, labor, and delivery was different and unique, but the difference I remember most was the way I was treated - for better and worse. My own birth narratives shaped my interest and desire for becoming a doula. In 2012, I became a trained Doula with the Birth Sisters Program at Boston Medical Center. Soon after I trained as a Childbirth Educator and became certified as a Lactation Consultant in 2015. While being an advocate for Black mamas and helping educate and guide families in my community on pregnancy and postpartum, my passion for midwifery grew even more. After graduating from college in 2016, I decided to finally pursue my calling into midwifery by enrolling into Birthwise Midwifery School. Since then my desire for bringing healing, growth and ancestral connection to communities of color has been my passion along with becoming a midwife. With that perspective, it is my goal every woman and family I work with feel heard, valued and cared for.
Marika Michelangelo, Office Manager
Stephanie Johnson, Student Midwife
My love for pregnancy and birth began as a young child. Always drawn to “catching babies” with my girl friends during playtime I knew being a midwife was my calling early on. With my own children, each pregnancy, labor, and delivery was different and unique, but the difference I remember most was the way I was treated - for better and worse. My own birth narratives shaped my interest and desire for becoming a doula. In 2012, I became a trained Doula with the Birth Sisters Program at Boston Medical Center. Soon after I trained as a Childbirth Educator and became certified as a Lactation Consultant in 2015. While being an advocate for Black mamas and helping educate and guide families in my community on pregnancy and postpartum, my passion for midwifery grew even more. After graduating from college in 2016, I decided to finally pursue my calling into midwifery by enrolling into Birthwise Midwifery School. Since then my desire for bringing healing, growth and ancestral connection to communities of color has been my passion along with becoming a midwife. With that perspective, it is my goal every woman and family I work with feel heard, valued and cared for.
