in 1997 to 2010, where she served as practice administrator, assistant to nurse-midwives at home births, childbirth educator, and mentor for out-of-hospital births. In addition, Nancy has twenty years of experience in medical office management performing coding, billing and chart documentation oversight in various medical specialties that included family practice, behavioral health, ob/gyn, and pediatrics. She has an Associates Degree in Business, and has experience in management for start ups and small operations. Most recently, she worked for a community health center as medical coder and auditor, team leader for the ICD-10 transition, and compliance educator for providers and residents.

Nancy has been blessed to have always had the support of her husband of 40 years, John, her three children and five grandchildren as she followed her calling. She became inspired to help other women find options after her first experiences giving birth. In her spare time, Nancy enjoys traveling, gardening, and meeting with other midwives. She is excited to be part of the birth center team bringing this alternative to Western North Carolina.

practiced as a certified nurse-midwife, clinical instructor and clinical research coordinator and throughout her career has been providing full-scope well-woman and OB/GYN care to the women in communities she has served. Prenatal education, mentorship and community outreach are Rani’s areas of specialty. Along with her work in the US, she has a variety of experience working internationally in Ecuador, Mexico, Rwanda, Uganda and the US Virgin Islands. It is her aspiration to ensure that the WNC Birth Center is a great success, offering high quality care that reflects our mission to provide women with a safe, nurturing environment where birth is normal and health can thrive.

She was drawn to the mountains after graduation and has called Asheville home for over a decade. Since moving here she has ventured into many aspects of nursing, always knowing that practicing the art and science of midwifery would be her final destination.

She worked as a Labor and Delivery nurse for 6 years at a local hospital before going back to school. She graduated from East Carolina University in 2010 with her MSN and became certified in midwifery. Angie proudly worked for New Dawn Midwifery for several years.

Angie prides herself on being attentive and present for her “mamas”. She loves water babies. Angie is very knowledgeable about birth and takes every opportunity to share her knowledge with her clients.

Angie has two adorable young children whom she dotes on. On her downtime, Angie gardens with her family and spends hours in her kitchen canning all her yummy produce. She also has a small backyard barnyard with rabbits, chickens, ducks and goats. When she is not attending births, gardening or canning, she enjoys hiking, swimming, canoeing, and snowshoeing. 

Originally from metro Atlanta area, Melissa  moved to NC to attend Queens University of Charlotte and NC has been her home ever since. After graduating from Queens, she worked as a labor and delivery nurse at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte for nearly 7 years, however she knew she could do more for women and families to support them before and after their births, so she completed midwifery school at Frontier Nursing University in 2011.

When studying and working as a nurse midwife, Melissa has worked in various settings including OB\GYN offices, hospitals, out-of-hospital birth centers, public health clinics and international volunteer work. She moved to Asheville in 2017 to participate in the unique model of care and mission of WNC Birth Center. 

 Her draw to midwifery did not come from her nursing experiences, but from a little girl born in a remote village on a tiny island in the Caribbean. This one child opened her eyes to the weight of the maternal health crisis globally and in United States as well. After 3 years of living + working in Haiti, she decided that she wanted to devote her career to caring for mamas and babies.  Jessica graduated from Frontier Nursing University in 2017 with her Master’s in Nurse Midwifery and immediately returned to practice in an out of hospital birth center in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

Jessica is passionate about woman-centered care and loves the getting to know her clients and their families.

Jessica and her daughter traded the mountains of Haiti for the mountains of WNC and in their free time enjoy traveling, hiking, rock hopping, exploring, playing soccer, and snuggling.

More to come soon!

She graduated from Western Carolina University with her BSN. Prior to becoming an RN, she studied midwifery with homebirth midwives in Oregon and Idaho and completed a three-year homebirth midwifery apprenticeship in Western North Carolina. Meredith is an advocate for birthing women and their families with over a decade of out of hospital experience.

She has been a doula, a home birth assistant and a midwife’s apprentice. She completed a nine-month intensive at the Appalachia School of Holistic Herbalism to receive her certification as a traditional herbalist. Currently she is a Family Nurse Practitioner student at Frontier Nursing University and aspires to work with women and families in WNC. Meredith and her husband have three children who were all born with midwives. During her free time, she enjoys being with family and friends, hiking, camping, going to outdoor music festivals and deepening her herbal wisdom. She is proud to be a part of the WNC Birth Center family!

Asha has attended births and cared for mothers and babies in a variety of settings including hospitals, homes, and birth centers. She has a special passion for working with midwives and mothers in an out-of-hospital birth setting. In 2013 Asha earned her certification as an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant. She was delighted to be able to return to Asheville and the mountains of WNC in the summer of 2017!

Shortly thereafter she began a local support group for families exploring out of hospital births. After earning her nursing degree, she has worked in various hospital labor and delivery settings but always felt a gravitational pull to return to supporting mothers outside of the hospital setting.

Desdamona has 4 amazing boys, ranging from 13-22 years of age, and has the gamut of personal birth experiences with them, each one allowing her a deeper facet of knowledge and compassion for women in labor. In her free time she enjoys laying in the sun, starting knitting projects (though rarely finishing them), planning the next grand adventure, and, of course, binge watching Netflix.

Growing up in eastern NC, the mountains have always held an allure for Kelly, but she made them her home in 1997 when she attended Mars Hill College.  She is happily married to Michael and mom to three lovely children. In her spare time she enjoys hiking, reading, baking, and watching movies with her family.

Kelly is excited to be part of the WNC Birth Center family and looks forward to providing compassionate care to the families in our community.

 She completed a labor doula training in 2013 and participated in a professional midwifery training program in Amherst, Massachusetts. She was attending births during this time and attended waterbirths, medicated and unmedicated births, and also a cesarean birth as a new doula. Once back in Western North Carolina, Emily was determined to continue in birth work and was ecstatic to find a new home for her passion at WNC Birth Center. She is a second time mama to a baby boy born in December 2017.