ELLIOT CHILDBIRTH AND FAMILY EDUCATION
Our Instructors
When you take part in a Childbirth Education class at Elliot, you can be confident you’re learning from highly skilled and experienced instructors. Each is certified in their area of expertise and bring years of experience to each program.
Paula Bennett, RN
Paula has worked at Elliot Hospital for 28 years, 15 of those years as a Labor and Delivery nurse. She teaches the Labor Series, Underwater Birth and VBAC classes. Paula has two grown sons.
Kim Hoffman, CCCE
Kim has been the Program Coordinator for Elliot's Childbirth and Family since 2004 and has been a Certified Childbirth Educator since 2006. She truly enjoys interacting everyday with expectant parents and sharing her experience and knowledge in the classroom. As a Labor Series instructor, you will often find her giving tours of the Maternity Center throughout the week. She is also a certified bra fitter and provides moms with fittings while at Elliot Hospital when requested. In addition to her role at Elliot, Kim is a full time student and mother to two children.
Patricia MacNeil, RN
Patricia has been a childbirth educator for 28 years, bringing more than 33 years of nursing experience in maternity and pediatrics to each class. She teachers Infant and Children’s CPR, parenting and sibling classes and is one of the hosts of the Elliot maternity tour. Outside of Elliot, she works full time as an elementary school nurse and is the mother of four grown children.
Michele O'Keefe RN, CLS
Michele is a registered nurse and Child Life Specialist with a degree in Human Growth Development (concentration in Child Life) from Wheelock College. She continued her education at Middlesex Community College and earned an Associates degree in Nursing. Michele joined Elliot in 1999 as a facilitator for the Mom's support group and then as a nurse educator for numerous parenting classes. Many of the current Childbirth Education classes at Elliot were developed and implemented by Michele. She currently teaches: The Testing Toddler, Infant Growth and Development, How to Talk So Kids Will Listen, and Siblings Without Rivalry, CPR, Parenting your Newborn, and a Sibling Class. Michele is the mother of four children.
Alison Palmer, RNC, MS, WHNP
Alison is one of the maternal-newborn clinical nurse specialists at Elliot Hospital and a childbirth educator for the Labor Series classes. Her love for working with childbearing families began with her career as a labor and delivery nurse. The bond that a nurse develops with her patients during the labor and birth process is truly special, and Alison feels it is a privilege to be able to share that experience with new mothers and their partners.
As a women’s health nurse practitioner, Alison has cared for women at all stages of life and educated them on various areas of health, wellness, and disease processes. Her primary interest in obstetrics runs the gamut from natural childbirth to high-risk pregnancies. As a childbirth educator, she believes it is her job to help allay anxieties about labor and birth and to empower women to understand their options for a healthy outcome for both themselves and their babies. She has a strong interest in the emotional well-being and adjustment of postpartum moms and is working on initiatives to increase the awareness, screening, and support for women with postpartum depression in the community. Outside of the hospital, Alison is a busy wife and mother of two young boys.
Michelle Scott, MA, RD, IBCLC
Wellspring Nutrition and Lactation Services
Michelle has more than 15 years experience as a lactation consultant and registered dietitian. She divides her time between both these interests by teaching breastfeeding classes, working as a lactation consultant in a pediatrician's office and by working as a home visiting dietitian for special needs children. Michelle finds teaching a great pleasure since the result is more and more healthy breastfed children -- getting the USA closer to the CDC Healthy People 2010 goal of 75 percent of all babies breastfed at birth, and at least that many still breastfed at 6 months old.
Heather Strong, RN
Heather is a Registered Nurse who has worked at the Elliot for almost 9 years. She works in the Maternity Department as well as Labor and Delivery where she has been trained to scrub and circulate in the Operating Room. She thoroughly enjoys her role as a Certified Childbirth Educator. Heather is a mother to three girls.
Brenda Smith, RN
Brenda Smith has been a nurse in Elliot Hospital’s Labor and Delivery unit since 1984. She is certified in Inpatient Obstetrics. In 1992, she started the Share program to help parents who experience the loss of a child.
Nancy Ramirez, RN
Nancy is a Lactation Consultant at Elliot Hospital and has been a Maternal Child Health Nurse since 1985. She has experience in Well Baby Nursery, Maternity and Level 2 Special Care Nursery. Nancy is a Breastfeeding Class instructor and a member of the NH Breastfeeding Taskforce.
Gail Gendron
Gail Gendron is a Certified Yoga Instructor and an AFAA Certified Personal Trainer. Gail began practicing Yoga in 2005 due to health issues. It made such a positive impact on her well-being that she became certified through the Zarnay Yoga Institute. She received a second certification for children and teens through ChildLight Yoga. She has a background in traditional dance starting at the age of 9. She teaches Prenatal Yoga at the Elliot in Manchester, Yoga for Seniors, Gentle Yoga, and "Quick Tone On The Ball" here at the Londonderry studio. She is also CPR/First Aid Certified. Gail is very passionate about sharing the incredible healing power of yoga with people of all ages!
Toni Lovell, LPN, CCE
Toni teaches the Labor Series, Waterbirth, and Sibling Classes and conducts the Labor/Maternity Units tours for the Elliot. She is a Certified Childbirth Educator, Lactation Educator, Trained Labor and Postpartum Doula. Toni is a pediatric nurse and a pregnancy/childbirth/newborn care nurse educator.
Toni believes it is a blessing to have children and it shows in the classroom. With her experience, education, and enthusiasm she not only educates and empowers her clients but makes them feel relaxed and comfortable. Her special interests include infertility issues, promoting a healthy pregnancy and breastfeeding.
She and her husband live in southern New Hampshire and have three children. |
