Clinic Assistant
Clinic Assistant
Clinic Assistant
RN Birth Assistant
CPM Birth Assistant
CPM Birth Assistant
RN Birth Assistant, Clinic Nurse & Diabetes Educator
Director of Nursing
Anna has been passionate about childbirth since middle school, when her aunt would tell her stories about her experiences as a doula and L&D nurse. She became fascinated by the woman’s empowerment, transformation, and innate strength during labor and birth and felt called to support mothers and families during this life-changing and vulnerable time. She left her hometown of Waverly, Iowa, to pursue her passion for language and travel, moving to Norway where she met her future husband. She has since earned a B.A. in linguistics from Williams College in Massachusetts, teacher licensure from the University in Trondheim, and a Master of Nursing from the U of M.
Anna enjoys teaching and working with children and has held jobs as a BWCA canoe guide for youth, an academic/writing tutor for children and peers, a piano teacher, and a childbirth educator. As a nurse, her passion remains helping childbearing families through pregnancy, birth, postpartum, and breastfeeding. While in nursing school, Anna founded the Twin Cities Doula Project, a local nonprofit organization that provides free doula services to families in need. As both a nurse and a doula, Anna has had the opportunity to attend births in the home, birth center, and hospital setting. She continues to work casually on the hospital labor & delivery unit where she started her nursing career. At home, she and her husband Audun are working hard to be better parents to their two young boys Henrik and Nils and daughter Margrete.
Clinic Nurse, Birth Assistant & Lactation Specialist
Abbie started her journey into the birth world by watching baby goats be born on her family’s farm and also by seeing the births of her two younger brothers. She first started at the Minnesota Birth Center as a facility cleaner, then became a birth doula, then went to nursing school, and has been at the Minnesota Birth Center as a registered nurse since 2017. In 2020, she became a certified lactation counselor and loves helping families in their feeding journey. Abbie, her husband Brandon, and their daughter love exploring local coffee shops, traveling whenever they can, enjoying the outdoors, and gardening.
Clinic Nurse, Birth Assistant & Gestational Diabetes Educator
Abbie grew up in the north suburbs of Minneapolis as the middle child of 5 kids. From a young age, she surrounded herself with babies and kids, from nannying to volunteering in her church’s nursery. She had entered nursing school, Bethel University, assuming she’d choose to be a hospital pediatric nurse. While in college, however, Abbie worked full-time as a personal care attendant (PCA) for a boy with autism and realized she had a heart for family-centered care, long-term relationships, and public health. She was then caught off guard when she ended up falling in love with her OB rotation that was facilitated by a midwife adjunct professor. She was sure she would have to choose between these two passions eventually until this midwife introduced her to the world of birth centers! After graduating she found a miraculous connection to MBC – Dr. Cindy Calvin, one of the founders, had been a professor at her high school, Minnehaha Academy! The rest was history. Abbie still can’t believe she’s been working at her dream job for more than 4 years, combining her passions into birth assisting and clinic nursing under one roof. More recently, she also added “gestational diabetes educator” to her titles. She is continually honored to work in a space that claims birth as an empowering experience for all birthing people and never gets over the first moment of coaxing a baby to their parent’s chest. While she has no children of her own yet, Abbie is thrilled to continue treasuring all her various experiences at MBC. In her spare time Abbie can be found anywhere there are people, playing at a park, or floating in any body of water she can find.
Clinic Nurse, Birth Assistant & Lactation Specialist
Aleta was born and raised in Northfield, Minnesota but now calls St. Paul home, where she lives with her partner, two children, and two mischievous kitties. Aleta earned her Bachelor’s degree in Biology from St. Olaf College, which she used to work in sustainable agriculture and environmental education while also coaching collegiate swimming at Macalester College. She then decided to go back to school to pursue a Master of Nursing at the University of Minnesota. She has worked in a variety of healthcare capacities, from performing research in a level 1 trauma center emergency department to working in public health in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Aleta started her nursing career in a busy adult ICU unit, but after giving birth at the Minnesota Birth Center, fell in love with the culture of care here and decided to pursue a job opportunity at MBC. Aleta is excited to use her teaching and coaching skills to help other families achieve their birth goals. Outside of MBC she enjoys going on outdoor adventures, eating all the amazing food her husband cooks, swimming, reading, and watching as her children learn and grow every day.
Clinic Nurse & Birth Assistant
I grew up in Minnesota with my mom and rural Wisconsin with my dad. I have always been interested in the birthing process and 4th trimester so I trained as a doula before graduating as a nurse from Inver Hills. I am currently enrolled at Metropolitan State University to earn my BSN. I believe knowledge is important since evidence-based practice is ever changing, so I like to keep up on all things birthing related. I loved learning about holistic options and care interventions in school and doula training. A place that makes holistic care top priority is exactly where I want to be. It is important for families to be involved in every aspect of their birth to feel empowered and respected. I like to learn about each family’s ideal birth and mold to each circumstance through the birthing process. A village is needed to raise children, but also to bring them earth-side. I am honored to be a part of that team! Outside of work I love hiking, exploring new dog parks and restaurants, and all things mermaids.
Clinic Nurse, Birth Assistant
I am a recent BSN grad from Elmhurst University. I also have a bachelor’s degree in Theatre from Augustana University, but decided to switch careers two summers ago after auditing a class at the UMN on Theatre Historiography, to see if a PhD was the course for me. For my thesis I followed a woman who was doing a “birth play” in which she presented the course of labor onstage. I realized through my research that I was much more interested in the medicine, culture, and history of midwifery and laboring bodies than I was the theatrical aspects, so here I am!
Clinic nurse
I began my nursing career by enlisting in the Army out of high school as a 68C (Licensed Practical Nurse). It became obvious early in my journey that labor was my passion because I never wanted to leave clinicals. Throughout my bachelor’s degree at Metropolitan State University, I have interned in the Family Birth Center at Methodist and done Maternal Child Homecare as my senior practicum and have loved every minute. I felt that the Minnesota Birth Center was the perfect fit for me as it was a culmination of everything I have done so far in my career. Outside of work, I love to read, hike, and travel with my husband!
Administrative Director
Emily attended Gustavus Adolphus College and is a Twin Cities enthusiast. She has almost ten years HR experience from her time in the staffing industry. Emily became interested in how the midwifery model of care empowers women after her personal experience of transferring from a hospital system to MBC mid-way through her third pregnancy. Emily is humbled to support the midwives and nurses of this organization. She lives in Minneapolis with her family and enjoys all things French, cooking, and dystopian novels.
