Your Birth Team
Lael Stimming LM, CPM
Lael Stimming is a Certified Professional Midwife and a Licensed Midwife. Lael is a member of the Bay Area Homebirth Collective, and the Bay Area Peer Review where she regularly attends meetings to discuss challenging cases and learns about the latest medical research regarding birth and evidence based practice. Lael holds a B.A. Currently, Lael is training to be the first Anthroposophical Certified Professional Midwife.
As a mother of four children, Lael intimately understands the joys and challenges of parenting in the 21st century. She teaches parenting and child development classes using the philosophy of Magda Gerber, Mindful Parenting and Waldorf methodology. She also teaches anatomy and physiology of pregnancy to yoga teacher trainees (or anyone who will listen).
Shannon Staloch LM, CPM, IBCLC
Shannon is a Certified Professional Midwife, Licensed Midwife, and an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant. From Senegal to San Francisco, Shannon has provided midwifery care to a spectacular array of women in all settings from clinics to kitchens. Shannon’s three children were all born at home with midwives in attendance. She received her midwifery degree from the National Midwifery Institute and her license from the California Medical Board in 2008. She passed her lactation boards in 2010.
In order to serve her families and deepen her understanding of alternative health Shannon has taken classes and trainings from the Weston A. Price Foundation, Holistic Pediatric Association, Suzanne Colson at Biological Nurturing, and Aviva Romm’s Herbal Medicine for Women.
Most of her training comes from raising her three kids, birthing them, cooking for them, and enjoying them!
Jennifer Neira Heystek - Staff Lactation Consultant/Assist Midwife
Jennifer Neira Heystek is a Licensed Midwife, Certified Professional Midwife, and an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant. She has attended hundreds of births at home, in birth centers, and in hospitals. She received her midwifery license from the Medical Board of California in 2010. She specializes in providing continuous, individualized care throughout the early postpartum period. In addition, she has extensive experience with recognizing and addressing tongue and lip ties, food sensitivities and allergies, and supporting maternal mental health. Jennifer volunteers as the leader of La Leche League in Castro Valley and San Leandro and hosts a weekly breastfeeding support group that welcomes all Bay Area families. Jennifer is deeply passionate about providing families with clinically competent, compassionate, culturally sensitive care.
