About Us...
About Jo...
I am a mom of 6 amazing children, and have been working with women during the childbearing years for over 25 years. I began my journey as a Medical Assistant in an very busy OB/GYN practice in Norfolk VA. I learned so much from the incredible doctors there, and after a marriage and a move, I became an herbalist and started studying reflexology and other healing modalities. My own birth journies led me to become a doula through training with both DONA in 1998 and ALACE (Now called InLabor) in 2000 in and began attending women at both hospital and at home births.
I also served as a WIC Breastfeeding Peer Counselor for 3 years in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, where I began intensive self study in midwifery in 2001, and then graduated from The House of LaMatrona School of Holistic Midwifery in May of 2005.
I have worked with and learned from many midwives, doctors and other holistic health care professionals in and around Ohio, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia and West Virginia. In addition to my work with women in labor and birth, I am passionate about teaching and writing. I spend much of my time researching and writing articles that pertain to pregnancy and birth, and am especially passionate about women who desire a normal birth after a previous cesarean section. I am currently working on an educational program specifically geared toward healthy holistic pregnancies, as well teaching natural family planning, breastfeeding, and of course... traditional birth. My practice incorporates many holistic modalities that I have learned from a wide variety of practitioners. I also worked with a group of student midwives, who are in varying degrees of educational and clinical training to become midwives and traditional birth attendants themselves.
I also served as a WIC Breastfeeding Peer Counselor for 3 years in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, where I began intensive self study in midwifery in 2001, and then graduated from The House of LaMatrona School of Holistic Midwifery in May of 2005.
I have worked with and learned from many midwives, doctors and other holistic health care professionals in and around Ohio, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia and West Virginia. In addition to my work with women in labor and birth, I am passionate about teaching and writing. I spend much of my time researching and writing articles that pertain to pregnancy and birth, and am especially passionate about women who desire a normal birth after a previous cesarean section. I am currently working on an educational program specifically geared toward healthy holistic pregnancies, as well teaching natural family planning, breastfeeding, and of course... traditional birth. My practice incorporates many holistic modalities that I have learned from a wide variety of practitioners. I also worked with a group of student midwives, who are in varying degrees of educational and clinical training to become midwives and traditional birth attendants themselves.
I have written for several online and in print publications including, Motherspirit , The Art & Science of Mothering, and Eve in Hand. I have volunteered with several community service agencies that lend assistance to pregnant and birthing women. In 2007 I became a state certified EMT-B, and in 2010, while caring for my terminally ill father, I trained for and became a hospice volunteer, I feel both pursuits have enhanced the skill and compassion I bring to midwifery.
I am a reflexologist and lay homeopath, am level II certified in Reiki, and an interfaith minister, with a focus on women's spirituality and chaplaincy. I have worked and practiced in the arena of alternative health care and spiritual care for women in birth for over 18 years. In my practice I encourage the use of herbs, massage, energy work, reflexology, chiropractics, nutrition, homeopathy, prayer/meditation and movement/exercise to maintain a healthy state of being and produce glowing, happy pregnancies, and powerful, intuitive birthing.
In 2012 I moved Wiyama to Southern West Virginia, and quickly found a home. While the new practice ranges over 3 states, I find that the commitment from my students and the families we work with has made it all possible and well worth it. I earned the designation CPM (certified professional midwife) and became licensed to practice midwifery in the Commonwealth of Virginia in January of 2015 after nearly a decade in private practice. I frequently attend accredited and non-accredited continuing education programs throughout the year, to keep my skills fresh and to update our practice with the most current evidence for the midwifery model.
After 6 wonderful years serving the families in Southern West Virginia and Eastern Kentucky and graduating my 2 lead apprentices into Primary Midwife under Supervision status I relocated Wiyama to the Mid-Ohio Valley area of Northeastern West Virginia /Southeastern Ohio, where there is not currently a midwife. I am looking forward to planting more seeds of midwifery in this area. In the summer of 2018 through a grand provided by Appalachian Breastfeeding Network I was able to train and test to become a Certified Lactation Specialist. This is a final step toward becoming an Internationally Board Certified Lactation Counselor.
Some positions I have held include Vice President of the Kentucky chapter of the NACPM (previous), Secretary of the West Virginia Midwives Alliance (current), Director of Education for the Virginia Midwives Alliance (previous), Regional Representative for the Appalachian Breastfeeding Network (previous), Professional Advisory Committee of Gold Online Learning (current), and am a member in good standing with the Midwives Alliance of West Virginia, Ohio Midwives Alliance, AME (Assn. of Midwifery Educators), Ohio chapter of the NACPM and NACPM National.
In September of 2018 I began pursuit of my advanced degree in midwifery through Midwives College of Utah, with plans of a fuller scope of midwifery teaching and apprenticing in the future.
Wiyama Apprentices
About Courtney - Primary Midwife Under Supervision (Southern West Virginia Region)
I have known for a while that I wanted to be a midwife. I started on the path to becoming a Certified Nurse Midwife, but I put it off when I became pregnant with my son. I put my trust in a care provider that let me down with an unwanted induction and an unnecessary cesarean. I felt completely out of control, broken, bullied, and like I was a failure. I promised myself that I would finish my education and try my best to never let my clients feel the way I did.
I became a CNA while I was still in high school. I met Jo and started working with Wiyama Midwifery as a full time apprentice in the work/study program in March of 2014 and decided that home birth was what I truly wanted to do. I am training to become a doula with Breath of Life in Roanoke VA and hope to become a lactation consultant as well. I believe that there's no such thing as a perfect textbook birth. Every pregnancy and birth is sacred and unique in its own way and should be treated with the utmost care and respect.
After an apprenticeship lasting nearly 4 years I have completed the requirements to sit for the NARM exam and plan to complete the candidacy process for Certified Proessional Midwife early in 2018. I serve the families of south and central West Virginia, and after I become licensed, in western Virginia.
I became a CNA while I was still in high school. I met Jo and started working with Wiyama Midwifery as a full time apprentice in the work/study program in March of 2014 and decided that home birth was what I truly wanted to do. I am training to become a doula with Breath of Life in Roanoke VA and hope to become a lactation consultant as well. I believe that there's no such thing as a perfect textbook birth. Every pregnancy and birth is sacred and unique in its own way and should be treated with the utmost care and respect.
After an apprenticeship lasting nearly 4 years I have completed the requirements to sit for the NARM exam and plan to complete the candidacy process for Certified Proessional Midwife early in 2018. I serve the families of south and central West Virginia, and after I become licensed, in western Virginia.
About Mary - Primary Midwife Under Supervision (Eastern/Central Kentucky Region)
I have two children whose births have led me to the path of midwifery. With my first child, I researched about natural childbirth and knew that was the way I wanted to give birth. The care I received was less than adequate and my birth ended in a cesarean. Crestfallen, I began to research more about the maternity care system and ways in which it could be improved. It was then I learned about the midwifery model of care. With my second child, I found an amazing midwife that would take me on as a client even though I had a previous cesarean. I learned so much about the female body and childbirth during that time period. I firmly believe the different level of care I received during my second pregnancy contributed to the delightful home birth I experienced.
Witnessing the difference in care providers and knowing how hard one must fight to achieve their goals, I decided to become an active member in the birthing community. Along with being an apprentice at Wiyama Midwifery(March 2014), I am also completing corresponding midwifery training online through a non-accredited program called Midwife to Be. I began the process of obtaining my doula certification in June 2014 and postpartum doula certification in September 2014, both through Intuitive Childbirth. My goal is to help bring birth back home to the families of Eastern Kentucky and surrounding areas.
After apprenticing with Jo and with another midwife in Central Kentucky, I have started my Primary Midwife Under Supervision phase of my training early in 2018, apprenticing with both Jo and Sarah Hood in central KY region. I will be attending births in east and central Kentucky in this capacity as well as assisting Jo and Courtney as my schedule might allow.
Witnessing the difference in care providers and knowing how hard one must fight to achieve their goals, I decided to become an active member in the birthing community. Along with being an apprentice at Wiyama Midwifery(March 2014), I am also completing corresponding midwifery training online through a non-accredited program called Midwife to Be. I began the process of obtaining my doula certification in June 2014 and postpartum doula certification in September 2014, both through Intuitive Childbirth. My goal is to help bring birth back home to the families of Eastern Kentucky and surrounding areas.
After apprenticing with Jo and with another midwife in Central Kentucky, I have started my Primary Midwife Under Supervision phase of my training early in 2018, apprenticing with both Jo and Sarah Hood in central KY region. I will be attending births in east and central Kentucky in this capacity as well as assisting Jo and Courtney as my schedule might allow.
About Lauren - Primary Midwife Under Supervision (Southern Ohio/Northern WV Region)
As a young adult browsing the public library shelves, a book with a pretty cover caught my eye so I took it home. That book happened to be Spiritual Midwifery by Ina May Gaskin. With each page I turned I became more enthralled as I soaked up the beauty and power of birth… I was forever changed!
A few years later, a DONA (Doulas of North America) doula training course was offered locally, I jumped at the chance, and ended up with a certificate. I began serving women birthing in the hospitals in my hometown of Columbus Ohio, doing what I could to help them to feel informed, comforted, and supported. The next year, over the summer of 2004, I had the precious and wonderful opportunity to travel to The Farm and train with The Farm Midwives, including Ina May. It was amazing to learn from the folks I had read so much about in Spiritual Midwifery! I received a certificate for completing their Midwife's Assistant course. Now the real learning began...I was pregnant! Through my own prenatal care with midwives I learned so much. Especially about what it's like to be on the receiving end of midwifery care. In November 2004, my first son was born at home...it was great, I loved my experience (Later, my other two children were born safely and naturally at home in 2008 and 2010). Shortly after his birth, ready to escape the city life, our little family moved to Athens, Ohio. It wasn't long before I started meeting the local home-birth midwives and attending births in the midwife’s assistant role. I attended some Amish births and a wide variety of “English” (non-Amish) births all around Southeastern Ohio. It was exciting, amazing, and eye opening. I was learning a lot!
In 2009, I began to work with Delphine Silvermoon, CNM as an assistant and apprentice in her Athens based practice. I had the opportunity to follow many women through their prenatal care, births, and postpartum. I learned a lot about continuity of care and how that relates to catching problems before they are problems. At this time, I also began formally working through the CPM (Certified Professional Midwife) credential process. While on maternity leave after my second baby, I completed The Heart & Hands Midwifery beginning and intermediate distance course with world renowned midwife Elizabeth Davis. After the birth of my third baby I returned to work in Athens as a doula and monitrice for women choosing hospital birth as well as an assistant/apprentice to local midwives, helping them with their home-birth practices. From late 2015 through early 2018, I trained with the CHOICE midwives in Columbus. I was thrilled to return to my roots in Columbus and to be working in a busy practice with five great midwives.
As of December 2018 I achieved my CPM credential, and will be working as a primary midwife in my solo practice Ohio Hills Midwifery and a partner practice with Appalachian Birth Co-Op. I will be serving birthing families here in Athens, Ohio and in surrounding areas! I keep busy homeschooling my three kids, working on our 91 acre farm in Athens County, exploring the woods, learning fiddle, chasing cows, and of course going to births!
A few years later, a DONA (Doulas of North America) doula training course was offered locally, I jumped at the chance, and ended up with a certificate. I began serving women birthing in the hospitals in my hometown of Columbus Ohio, doing what I could to help them to feel informed, comforted, and supported. The next year, over the summer of 2004, I had the precious and wonderful opportunity to travel to The Farm and train with The Farm Midwives, including Ina May. It was amazing to learn from the folks I had read so much about in Spiritual Midwifery! I received a certificate for completing their Midwife's Assistant course. Now the real learning began...I was pregnant! Through my own prenatal care with midwives I learned so much. Especially about what it's like to be on the receiving end of midwifery care. In November 2004, my first son was born at home...it was great, I loved my experience (Later, my other two children were born safely and naturally at home in 2008 and 2010). Shortly after his birth, ready to escape the city life, our little family moved to Athens, Ohio. It wasn't long before I started meeting the local home-birth midwives and attending births in the midwife’s assistant role. I attended some Amish births and a wide variety of “English” (non-Amish) births all around Southeastern Ohio. It was exciting, amazing, and eye opening. I was learning a lot!
In 2009, I began to work with Delphine Silvermoon, CNM as an assistant and apprentice in her Athens based practice. I had the opportunity to follow many women through their prenatal care, births, and postpartum. I learned a lot about continuity of care and how that relates to catching problems before they are problems. At this time, I also began formally working through the CPM (Certified Professional Midwife) credential process. While on maternity leave after my second baby, I completed The Heart & Hands Midwifery beginning and intermediate distance course with world renowned midwife Elizabeth Davis. After the birth of my third baby I returned to work in Athens as a doula and monitrice for women choosing hospital birth as well as an assistant/apprentice to local midwives, helping them with their home-birth practices. From late 2015 through early 2018, I trained with the CHOICE midwives in Columbus. I was thrilled to return to my roots in Columbus and to be working in a busy practice with five great midwives.
As of December 2018 I achieved my CPM credential, and will be working as a primary midwife in my solo practice Ohio Hills Midwifery and a partner practice with Appalachian Birth Co-Op. I will be serving birthing families here in Athens, Ohio and in surrounding areas! I keep busy homeschooling my three kids, working on our 91 acre farm in Athens County, exploring the woods, learning fiddle, chasing cows, and of course going to births!
About Maureen (Midwifes Apprentice, phase one)
Maureen Farrell is a Certified Lactation Counselor, Herbalist, and Doula living in the mountains of Randolph Co, WV. Originally from New York, she has been working to put down roots and build a deeper understanding of her ecological and human communities at her current home. Maureen, her partner, and her son grow medicinal and edible mushrooms to sell at local restaurants and farmer’s markets.
She has been working for nearly a decade to expand her knowledge of Appalachian plant medicine and is formally studying herbal medicine with Herbal Medics University. For the past two years she has been focused on learning Family and Female Reproductive Herbalism.
Maureen currently works with the Mountain Stewardship and Outdoor Leadership (SOL) School based in Morgantown, WV. With this non-profit, she teaches survival skills and herbal medicine to students of all ages. She also teaches herbal medicine and cultivation skills independently throughout the state.
Maureen is also a board member of the affiliated non-profit Aurora Lights Herbal Medics. This is a chapter of the national non-profit, Herbal Medics, based in San Antonio, TX. The local group works to bring accessible health care and herbal medicine to under-served regions of West Virginia. It achieves this using educational classes on self-care and herbal remedies, and organizing free or at-cost herbal clinics.
More recently, Maureen began her own business as a Doula and CLC in Randolph Co, Highland Birth Support. She also began an apprenticeship with Wiyama Midwifery as a student midwife in 2018.
She has been working for nearly a decade to expand her knowledge of Appalachian plant medicine and is formally studying herbal medicine with Herbal Medics University. For the past two years she has been focused on learning Family and Female Reproductive Herbalism.
Maureen currently works with the Mountain Stewardship and Outdoor Leadership (SOL) School based in Morgantown, WV. With this non-profit, she teaches survival skills and herbal medicine to students of all ages. She also teaches herbal medicine and cultivation skills independently throughout the state.
Maureen is also a board member of the affiliated non-profit Aurora Lights Herbal Medics. This is a chapter of the national non-profit, Herbal Medics, based in San Antonio, TX. The local group works to bring accessible health care and herbal medicine to under-served regions of West Virginia. It achieves this using educational classes on self-care and herbal remedies, and organizing free or at-cost herbal clinics.
More recently, Maureen began her own business as a Doula and CLC in Randolph Co, Highland Birth Support. She also began an apprenticeship with Wiyama Midwifery as a student midwife in 2018.
About Nicole (Midwifes Apprentice, phase one)
Nicole has a passion for serving families and her community, wearing a variety of hats to serve in many capacities and roles.
A lifelong resident of the Mid-Ohio Valley (MOV), Nicole is actively involved in the parenting community in the area as President of Mamaology, a 501c3 nonprofit dedicated to providing families with support, education, and resources. During the pregnancy of her third child, Nicole found a loving and supportive community in the founders and board members of Mamaology. The knowledge she gained motivated her to become an advocate for informed birth and parenting choices, with a strong emphasis on supporting parents in the best individual choices they make for their families. She had actually considered midwifery training or becoming a birth assistant in 2011 after the birth of her third child, but life led her instead to focus on serving families through Mamaology. She joined the board in 2012 and has been striving to serve families in the MOV through the services and programs that Mamaology offers, spearheading the efforts to obtain the 501c3 designation and grow the organization to meet the needs of the community.
Along with organizing and planning a wide variety of community events and running the Mamaology private online discussion group, Nicole has lead free educational workshops on the following topics: 10 Steps to a Better Birth, How to Have a Healthy Pregnancy, Intro to Midwifery, Intro to Cloth Diapers, Babywearing 101 (wraps, carriers, & slings), Intro to Baby Food (when to introduce, how to prepare homemade, and baby-led weaning), Car Seat Safety, Intro to Babysitting, Infant/Child Safety Workshop, Alternative Diets for Health, and many others. She is a certified CPST (Child Passenger Safety Technician or "car seat tech") and Mental Health First Aid certified.
After meeting Jo in late 2017, Nicole decided to train as a birth assistant for Jo as she moved her practice to the MOV. By early 2018, she had decided instead to enter into apprenticeship with Jo and began attending homebirths as a Phase I Apprentice in early spring. She is honored to assist and serve families in this new capacity.
Nicole firmly supports the midwifery model of care, believing each client deserves nurturing and evidence-based care before, during, and after birth. In addition to this, she advocates for evidence-based care and informed decision regardless of care provider or birth location. She is happy to serve families as a doula whether they are planning a home birth or hospital birth, vaginal delivery or cesarean delivery.
Outside of her family and birth work, Nicole serves her community in many other capacities. She is a member and volunteer for the Actor's Guild of Parkersburg, serving as the current Chair of House Managers & Ushers in addition to being on the staff of multiple productions as Stage Manager or serving behind the scenes as a "stage mom" when her children are involved in a production. Nicole volunteers at her children's schools as able and is actively involved in their chosen extracurricular activities. She also works with her husband and several family members and close friends at her family's law office, where she assists families with their real estate needs, from buying or refinancing a home to selling a home as they transition to the next stage for their family.
A lifelong resident of the Mid-Ohio Valley (MOV), Nicole is actively involved in the parenting community in the area as President of Mamaology, a 501c3 nonprofit dedicated to providing families with support, education, and resources. During the pregnancy of her third child, Nicole found a loving and supportive community in the founders and board members of Mamaology. The knowledge she gained motivated her to become an advocate for informed birth and parenting choices, with a strong emphasis on supporting parents in the best individual choices they make for their families. She had actually considered midwifery training or becoming a birth assistant in 2011 after the birth of her third child, but life led her instead to focus on serving families through Mamaology. She joined the board in 2012 and has been striving to serve families in the MOV through the services and programs that Mamaology offers, spearheading the efforts to obtain the 501c3 designation and grow the organization to meet the needs of the community.
Along with organizing and planning a wide variety of community events and running the Mamaology private online discussion group, Nicole has lead free educational workshops on the following topics: 10 Steps to a Better Birth, How to Have a Healthy Pregnancy, Intro to Midwifery, Intro to Cloth Diapers, Babywearing 101 (wraps, carriers, & slings), Intro to Baby Food (when to introduce, how to prepare homemade, and baby-led weaning), Car Seat Safety, Intro to Babysitting, Infant/Child Safety Workshop, Alternative Diets for Health, and many others. She is a certified CPST (Child Passenger Safety Technician or "car seat tech") and Mental Health First Aid certified.
After meeting Jo in late 2017, Nicole decided to train as a birth assistant for Jo as she moved her practice to the MOV. By early 2018, she had decided instead to enter into apprenticeship with Jo and began attending homebirths as a Phase I Apprentice in early spring. She is honored to assist and serve families in this new capacity.
Nicole firmly supports the midwifery model of care, believing each client deserves nurturing and evidence-based care before, during, and after birth. In addition to this, she advocates for evidence-based care and informed decision regardless of care provider or birth location. She is happy to serve families as a doula whether they are planning a home birth or hospital birth, vaginal delivery or cesarean delivery.
Outside of her family and birth work, Nicole serves her community in many other capacities. She is a member and volunteer for the Actor's Guild of Parkersburg, serving as the current Chair of House Managers & Ushers in addition to being on the staff of multiple productions as Stage Manager or serving behind the scenes as a "stage mom" when her children are involved in a production. Nicole volunteers at her children's schools as able and is actively involved in their chosen extracurricular activities. She also works with her husband and several family members and close friends at her family's law office, where she assists families with their real estate needs, from buying or refinancing a home to selling a home as they transition to the next stage for their family.
Other Staff
About Cassidy - Birth Assistant/Photographer
Cassidy is Joanna's teenage daughter. Born at home herself and exposed to normal birth and breastfeeding all her young life has given her a unique perspective on birth and mother/baby photography. Cassidy attends births when her time allows and will photograph births and babies for Wiyama clients for a very reasonable fee.
Find her on Facebook at Picture Perfect Photography |
About Sarah - Office Assistant
While Sarah doesn't provide any clinical support her assistance is indispensable in helping to run a private practice. She is committed to the philosophy of the midwifery model of care, passionate about seeing things done well and making the entire process seamless. You will likely not see her, but know she is there behind the scenes making everything run perfectly.
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