Meet our talented staff
Dawn Meier, LM, CPM
Dawn started her road to midwifery after having her first child. She had researched the effects of birth trauma to newborns while taking psychology classes. After earning her degree in psychology at Wright State University she became a doula providing labor support to women wanting natural birth. This led her to Florida where she enrolled in a direct-entry midwifery program, Manna School of Midwifery and Health Sciences. She fulfilled her clinical experience mostly in birth centers, in Jamaica and Guatamala, and attending homebirths. This allowed her to see birth as it should be, in an intimate peaceful environment. Upon graduation from her program she started a small homebirth practice in southwest Florida, and then began working as a staff midwife at The Family Birth Centers (Naples & Ft. Myers). She was quickly promoted to Clinical Director of both facilities. In March of 2005 she took over The Family Birth Center of Naples and is now the owner and Director. Dawn has three children, all boys, two born out-of-hospital. She is also studying homeopathy at Florida Academy of Classical Homeopathy, hoping to eventually add this amazing modality of holistic healthcare into her existing practice. Dawn is living her dream providing holistic care to women and empowering families through their births everyday.
Sayer Ji- Nutrition Director
Sayer Ji is a health educator, researcher and freelance writer, whose work has been published by the Well Being Journal and the Journal of Gluten Sensitivity. He is the corporate educator for For Goodness Sake Organic Marketplace based in Naples and Bonita Springs, FL and is the founder of the not-for-profit online natural medical resource GreenMedInfo.com which provides clinical information on the therapeutic value of natural substances.
Sayer has a B.A. in Philosophy (Rutgers University, 95'), as well as 7 years of experience working with children/young adults in wilderness therapy, group-work, reality-therapy as a counselor-teacher at the Princeton-Blairstown Foundation (NJ), Mayhew Foundation (NH) and Eckerd Youth Alternatives (FL)
Sayer and his wife are the proud parents of a beautiful baby girl, born naturally at the Family Birth Center.
Emily Arnold- Office Manager
Emily is the Financial Director and Office Manager at The Family Birth Center of Naples. She will help you arrange your payment plans, answer any questions regarding your insurance/billing, & schedule your appointments. She has three children, all born out-of-hospital (two at FBC).
Lauren McKyton, RN- Registered Nurse
Lauren is the home-visit nurse for The Family Birth Center of Naples. Lauren received her bachelor’s degree at the University of Florida’s College of Nursing in 1996. She worked at Tampa General’s labor/delivery/postpartum unit for 3 years while also working part-time at St. Petersburg’s Bayfront Hospital NICU. She then moved to Naples where she worked in North Collier Hospital’s postpartum unit, and then moved on to Fort Myers’ Health Park high risk OB unit for 3 more years. While using The Family Birth Center of Naples for the birth of her first child, she was offered the position of home-visit nurse. She is now the proud mother of 2 children, both born at the birth center.
Phyllis Estes, LCCE-R, Doula
Phyllis is our Director of Childbirth Education. She is nationally certified and is also a childbirth educator trainer, postpartum educator, doula, and infant massage instructor. She has been certified since 1979, and has provided childbirth education to over 8,000 Collier County families since that time. The mother of a son and a daughter, she has 5 grandsons, 2 born at The Family Birth Center of Naples.
Kristina Bell- Birth Assistant/Receptionist
Kristina will be there supporting the laboring mothers and their families. She has a wonderfully calm and sweet demeanor. You may ocasionally see her at the front desk scheduling appointments and answering phones too. She has had both of her children at The Family Birth Center, so she knows natural birth first hand!
-THE FAMILY BIRTH CENTER OF NAPLES-
SERVING FAMILIES SINCE 1998
