Meet Our Team
MEET OUR TEAM
Staff

Nancy Koerber, CPM, CPC- Executive Director- Nancy has a unique background that includes experience in both the clinical and administrative foundations of midwifery and healthcare management. She became a Certified Professional Midwife credentialed through the North American Registry of Midwives in 1995. Nancy co-founded and co-owned New Dawn Midwifery from its inception...
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.

Rani Khan, RN, MSN, CNM- Director of Midwifery- Born at home, Rani has a long history with midwifery and women’s healthcare. She apprenticed as a home birth midwife in Ann Arbor, while obtaining her nursing degree at University of Michigan. She completed her Master’s in Midwifery at Emory University, as well as a post-master’s Certificate in Nursing Management and Leadership in 2013. She has...

Angela Logan, RN, MSN, CNM- Midwife- Angie has known since she was young that she had an overwhelming need to take care of women and their families. Everything crystallized on a trip west as she overlooked the canyons of Yellowstone Park that she needed to become a nurse-midwife. Her path being clear, Angie went to Georgia Southern University to obtain her undergraduate degree in nursing...
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.

Melissa Poole, RN, MSN, CNM- Midwife- Melissa has been drawn to the care of mothers and babies since childhood, but from the moment she was thrown into supporting a woman through labor for the first time during nursing school, she was hooked and knew where she belonged!
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.

Jessica Williamson, RN, MSN, CNM - Midwife - Jessica fell in love with maternal health working in the international community. Originally from Louisiana, she worked for 6 years as an emergency room/trauma nurse and 2 years as a labor & delivery nurse. ...
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.

Melissa Hicks, MD- Medical Director- Dr. Hicks is a faculty member at the Department of Family Medicine at MAHEC. Her areas of special interest include the full scope of family medical care, including caring for women during pregnancy and childbirth, along with the family.

Meredith Fowler, RN- Meredith’s passion for women’s health led her to becoming an RN. She believes birth can be the most transformative and empowering process in a woman’s life. She views birth as a sacred, deeply personal and individual journey.
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 Oakes, RN, IBCLC - Asha was raised in West Virginia where she fell in love with the birth process as a young girl attending her siblings' births. She is the mother of two lovely children who were fortunate enough to have had a midwife in attendance when they entered this world.

Desdamona, RNC-OB - Desdamona is thrilled to join us here at WNCBC as she is dedicated to continuing her almost 2 decades of supporting mothers and their growing families. She began her career as a birth doula (DONA) serving families in both home and hospital settings in 2001.
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.

Nora Weatherby, RN - Nora Weatherby was mentored into birth work by a vibrant group of midwives and doulas in 2003. Since then she has been supporting birth in all settings as a doula, educator and advocate. Her first Bachelor's degree is in oral history and writing.
After college she founded The Birth Narratives Oral History Project and traveled around the eastern United States recording and writing birth stories from different communities. Collecting these stories was humbling and awe inspiring. Every birth is the beginning of one story and the continuation of many others.Feeling the pull to work with and care directly for families, in 2015, she returned to school to complete a Bachelor's in Nursing at UNC Chapel Hill. She is currently pursuing her MSN in Midwifery at Frontier Nursing University.
When not working, Nora still writes, sings music from around the world and loves to hike and dance.
She is honored to join the wonderful team at WNC Birth Center!

Kelly Heinerth- Office Manager- Kelly has been passionate about midwifery care since the birth of her son in 2006. She spent several years employed as the receptionist at a local midwifery practice where she thoroughly enjoyed being a small part of the care women and their families received during their transformative journeys into parenthood.
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, knitting, 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.
Board of Directors
Debbie Aiton - President
Tara Theodossis - Treasurer
Dylan Babb - Secretary
Justine Clegg
Katherine Langley