Mari-Elena Leckel
Owner/Birth/Postpartum & Infant Care/Certified Labor & Postpartum Doula Trainer/Infant Feeding Specialist/CBE/CLC
Mari-Elena Leckel is extremely passionate about supporting, educating, and empowering families during pregnancy, postpartum, and beyond. She was born in New York and is the oldest of three children. Mari became a mother at a young age and met her husband when her daughter was seven years old. With the love and support of her husband and family, and her determination to succeed, she decided to go back to school and went on to graduate from Tufts University with a degree in Sociology. Upon receiving her degree, she began working in law enforcement.
Mari and her husband decided in 2009 to expand their family but were challenged by infertility issues. The next few years were filled with a multitude of doctor visits, moments of excitement and also heartbreak. In 2012, she gave birth to her second daughter and because of the tremendous amount of love and support throughout her journey, she wanted to “somehow, give that back.” She completed trainings as a Childbirth Educator, Labor and Postpartum Doula through CAPPA (Childbirth and Postpartum Professional Association), Dancing For Birth™ Instructor, Belly Binding Artist and Child Passenger Safety Technician. She received her Certification in Lactation Counseling and is certified by the Academy of Lactation Policy and Procedure. Mari is also a Certified Labor and Postpartum & Infant Care Doula, Certified Labor & Postpartum Doula Trainer and Infant Feeding Specialist through ProDoula. She has been featured in Pregnancy and Newborn Magazine’s “Ask the Experts”, written a blog for Motherly “A Pep Talk to Mamas during Coronavirus” and facilitated a workshop on running a successful doula agency at the 2017 annual ProDoula Conference. In 2018 Mari was invited by a Massachusetts hospital to provide a training to their labor and delivery staff on comfort measures in labor. Mari received her 200 hour Yoga Teacher certification in May 2019 and helped to create the “Doc & Doula” Podcast. She was the Director of Doula Services and built a successful doula agency for Acelleron Maternal Health & Wellness until the company decided to close their doors in October 2017. Mari and her team had a passion and commitment to continue to support families and Boston Birth Associates was born.
The journey to motherhood is different for everyone but Mari believes every mother and family deserve to be loved, encouraged, educated, and empowered with non-judgmental and unconditional support. Mari considers it an honor and privilege to work with families during such intimate and special moments.
Megan O’Neill
Social Media Manager
Megan O’Neill, CLC, has always held a strong passion for women’s health – especially during pregnancy, childbirth and lactation. Megan received her Certification in Lactation Counseling and is certified by the Academy of Lactation Policy and Procedure. She is also a CAPPA-trained Childbirth Educator. Megan has worked in parenting support and education for the last thirteen years, and is very excited to help guide and encourage new families during this exciting time. She is a graduate of Merrimack College.
Megan is the mom of two little boys, Declan and Brian, and daughter Kieran. She has eight-plus years of breastfeeding experience. Megan understands the intricacies of breastfeeding, bottle feeding, and everything in between. She offers an understanding, non-judgmental view on parenting – striving to make all families feel accepted and supported.
Nicolette McCoy
Birth/Postpartum & Infant Care/Infant Feeding Specialist/Childbirth Educator/Sleep Specialist
Nicolette McCoy has always felt a strong connection with babies and children in all lines of her work. When she realized the impact she had on helping parents, she found her true passion. Nicolette attended Regis College and later SNHU for Psychology, focusing on Mental Health & Substance Abuse. She went on to be a career childcare provider, as well as answering crisis calls for mental health and substance abuse patients. When Nicolette came across the profession of “all things doula”, she knew it was a perfect marriage between empowering parents to confidently bring babies into this world, and being able to provide care for them once they bring their babies home! Through ProDoula, Nicolette is a certified Labor and Postpartum Doula, Infant Feeding Specialist, and Childbirth Educator. Through certification in Pediatric Sleep at SleepSavvy, she is inspired to work as a Sleep Specialist. With this, she will support families in balancing the parents’ need for sleep and mental wellness with the baby’s needs. Nicolette cannot wait to provide all of these non-judgmental services to families as well as ensure they will feel comfortable and supported in such a special time of their lives.
Kate Farella
Birth/Postpartum & Infant Care
Kate is a ProDoula Certified Postpartum and Infant Care and Labor Doula. She is a Massachusetts native and currently resides in the Metrowest area of the state. A graduate of Skidmore College where she received her Bachelor of Arts with a double major in French and Political Science, Kate became passionate about birth work following the birth of her first child. Kate has had additional training through Boston Birth Associates in infant feeding and sleep.
Kate understands the needs of new and expecting families and has personal experience giving birth in a variety of ways including medicated, induction and , unmedicated. Kate is passionate about offering evidence based education and unbiased support to families. She spends her free time with her three children and husband, cooking healthy dinners and finding time to be active. She is excited and honored to be able to help and empower families during this special time in their lives.
Martha Bishop
Birth/Postpartum & Infant Care/CLC
Martha Bishop was raised in Wayland and Framingham MA and then moved out to Western MA for college and stayed for 30 years! Her first job was as a neighborhood babysitter and that’s when her life-long interest in babies and children began. She worked as a child-care provider for 12 years before taking a side step into the world of corporate sales for many years. Fortunately, she was able to step away from that and get back to her true love of caring for babies and families with young children. Although Martha has no children of her own, she does have nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews, and even a great grandnephew, in her life.
Martha trained as a Labor Doula in 2015 and is certified through ProDoula. She trained and certified as a Postpartum & Infant Care Specialist through ProDoula in 2017. Martha is also certified through AALP as a Lactation Counselor. She is currently working on certification as a Child Birth Educator through ProDoula and in school to become a massage therapist.
Martha has a passion and is excited to help support and educate expecting and new families during this important life transition.
Alexandra Crafts (Lexie)
Postpartum & Infant Care/ Certified HypnoBirthing Educator
Alexandra Crafts (Lexie) was born and raised in Massachusetts where she still lives with her husband Rob and their two (soon to be three) children. Lexie noticed a difference in her entire pregnancy and labor experience during her second pregnancy when she added HypnoBirthing, a doula for support, and weekly fitness classes to her routine. She wanted to educate herself and others on the benefits of exercising safely during pregnancy. In 2017 she got certified as a Prenatal Fitness Specialist through AFPA and soon after received her group fitness certification through The American Council on Exercise!
Lexie also got trained as a postpartum doula in 2018 and has been certified as a HypnoBirthing educator through The HypnoBirthing Institute! She is so excited to be continuing as a postpartum doula and teach the HypnoBirthing course at Boston Birth Associates! HypnoBirthing changed Lexie’s whole perspective of labor and birth and she is ecstatic to be able to help others experience the empowering and peaceful experience of a natural birth using the evidence based practice of HypnoBirthing!
Olivia Wojcik
BSN/Lactation Support
Olivia is a registered nurse who graduated Summa Cum Laude and holds a degree in Psychology from Dublin , Ireland
She is a Certified Lactation Counselor, Newborn Care Expert, Level 2 Reiki Practitioner and is in the process of becoming an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant. Olivia has extensive experience with newborn/infant care both in the hospital, outpatient and community settings. She specializes in breastfeeding support from birth through twenty four months. Olivia is passionate about supporting families as they welcome their baby and understands the excitement and challenge of this transition. She is compassionate, direct and supportive to help families reach their goals and adapt to parenthood. Olivia lives on the North Shore with her two year old daughter, husband and dog, Freddie. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking, horseback riding, and spending time with family and friends.
Katie Breard
Pre/Postnatal Personal Trainer & Nutrition Coach
Katie is a pre and postnatal personal trainer and nutrition coach. In her work she helps moms move away from feeling lost, frazzled, and dissatisfied in their bodies to stepping into their light while getting in the best shape of their lives.
Before starting her brand, Katie worked for 11 years as a creative leader in advertising. While she was always a self proclaimed fitness addict her perspective on health, wellness, nutrition and mental health was completely changed when her water broke 3 months early with her second pregnancy and she lived on bedrest for 2 months. Her recovery to health and fitness inspired her to change careers and help women today.
Katie is an American Academy of Personal Training graduate with a specialization in pre and postnatal fitness. She trains pregnant women and new moms through 1:1 training and group coaching program. Katie lives in Brookline Massachusetts with her husband Kent, daughter Bailey (3), and son Beau (1).
Meghan Scafati
Meghan Scafati grew up in Methuen, MA, as an only child surrounded by her large, close-knit extended family. Her cousins have always been more like siblings, and from babysitting frequently by age 11 to being a proud Auntie to 12 amazing kids, Meghan has been a nurturer her whole life. After graduating UMass Lowell with a Bachelors in Criminal Justice and Psychology, Meghan worked as a manager within state government for 10 years. It was there that she met her husband; they married in 2013 and have a 2 year old daughter. After a high-risk pregnancy and her own experience giving birth with wonderful doula support, Meghan felt compelled to join Boston Birth Associates to give other families what she had received – amazing, non-judgmental support, informed choices, and confidence. Meghan has a myriad of past experience, both personal and professional, that has given her the skills to help mothers and families navigate this incredible, chaotic, challenging, and beautifully transformative time in their lives.
Meghan completed the Labor and Postpartum & Infant Care trainings through ProDoula and also provides Maternity Concierge services for BBA. Maternity Concierge options include event planning (baby showers/sprinkles, baptisms/christenings, birthday parties, etc.) and design services (nursery, playroom, etc.), both of which Meghan has varied and comprehensive experience handling – and a genuine passion for! Planning these things can be very overwhelming for new and even seasoned parents, so leave it to someone who loves considering the tiniest details and developing a way to make your perfect vision come to life. Meghan would be thrilled to help you plan and execute a wonderful event or a beautiful, functional space!