Who We Are

Vicki Nolan Marnin, MSN, CNM

Vicki attended Case Western Reserve University and The Frontier School of Midwifery and Family Nursing, where she earned her Master of Science in Nursing and her CNM certification. Prior to that time, she was a Bradley Childbirth Educator, a doula for her Bradley students, and a Registered Nurse.

In 1996, Vicki founded the midwifery service at Whitney M. Young Jr. Health Center, a Federally Qualified Community Health Center in downtown Albany. She was the first midwife with full-time privileges at St. Peter's Hospital in Albany, New York. And in 2007, she was a co-author of "Closing the theory-practice gap: intrapartum midwifery management of planned home births," published in the Journal of Midwifery and Women's Health. She is a frequent speaker for university classes and community groups regarding women's health, pregnancy and birth.

Following the homebirth of her daughter, Vicki and her family moved to Connecticut, where she joined Birth & Beyond and now directs the operation and staff, providing midwifery services to clients throughout CT. Vicki is a dedicated, compassionate midwife who has joyfully helped her clients deliver nearly 1,000 babies.

Amy Romano, MSN, CNM

Amy received both her nursing and midwifery training from Yale University School of Nursing. She has worked with Birth & Beyond on and off since 2001, as a student, an office assistant, a birth assistant, and most importantly as a client, having had her daughter at home with the practice. After working as a midwife in a freestanding birth center in Delaware for two years and giving birth to another baby at home, Amy returned to Connecticut and has been back with Birth & Beyond since 2007.

In addition to motherhood and midwifery, Amy is a well-known writer, speaker, and advocate for mother-friendly maternity care. Since 2004, she has been a perinatal research and advocacy consultant for Lamaze International and a columnist for the Journal of Perinatal Education. In 2006, she coauthored The Evidence Basis for the 10 Steps of Mother-Friendly Childbirth, a rigorous review of the scientific research on safe and effective maternity care. She is currently coauthoring the second edition of Obstetric Myths versus Research Realities with Henci Goer. In 2007, Amy was the recipient of the Hazel Corbin Grant for Evidence-Based Midwifery Care. Amy is also a Clinical Instructor at Yale School of Nursing.

Alison Birdsey, MSN, CNM

Alison earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Russell Sage College, a Master of Science degree from Boston College, and a Post Masters Certificate from SUNY Stony Brook. She has worked as a women's health nurse practitioner since 1997 and a Certified Nurse-Midwife since 2001, attending births in both hospital and birth center settings. Currently she divides her time between teaching nursing students at St. Joseph College in West Hartford and attending home births with Birth & Beyond.

When she's not working, Alison is busy raising four children and training one crazy dog. In her spare time, she runs in marathons.



With affection and gratitude for Birth & Beyond founder Saraswathi Vedam, without whose vision, hard-work, and dedication we would not be here today.