Certified nurse midwife

Jo Zasloff (she/her)

Jo has been working as a certified nurse midwife (CNM) in New York City for over 16 years. After the birth of her second child in 2017, Jo decided to bring her work closer to home and open her own private practice in Bed Stuy, Brooklyn where she lives. She wanted to create a practice that she herself would enjoy spending time in and would have wanted to go to for her own care. She wanted it to look beautiful, but also feel safe and calming to her patients. She wanted a space that smelled nice, had natural lighting, good music, soft cotton gowns and no stirrups. She wanted her patients to feel safe, empowered, listened to, and cared for. With this vision she created Nettle Wellness.

Jo holds a bachelor’s degree in film, medical anthropology and women’s studies from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in Nursing and a master’s degree in Midwifery from Columbia University School of Nursing. Jo is both licensed as a registered nurse (RN) as well as a Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM) in the state of New York.

She began her career as a midwife at Mount Sinai East hospital in New York City in 2008. Through the years, she has worked in a variety of settings including busy hospitals, small private practice, birthing centers and homebirth.

Before becoming a midwife, Jo worked as a Sexual Health advocate for sex workers in the Mission District of San Francisco. She also spent time learning and training with midwives and herbalists in Ghana and India. For four years prior to opening Nettle Wellness, Jo co-ran and owned a private midwifery practice in New York City where she delivered at the Roosevelt Birth Center.

When Jo isn’t delivering babies or talking about wellness and health, she runs a non-toxic hair and body line with her two sisters, called Sisters Body.

Jo lives with her husband, Anand and her two children, Uma and Zazie and their dog, Dosa.

certified nurse midwife

Jenna Sood (she/they)

Jenna completed her undergraduate degree at Colby College in Maine, where she studied both Neurobiology and Photography.  This duality between science and creativity is present in most parts of her life.  She moved to New York in 2014 to study Nursing and Midwifery at Columbia University, where she became a part of a vibrant community, passionate about reproductive justice in healthcare.  After graduation, she spent several years at Jamaica Hospital, and in 2020, she joined a small private practice on the UWS.  She is very excited to expand into the world of homebirth! 

Jenna is a proudly queer person, from a bi-ethnic family of origin.  She is vehemently pro-choice. And she is dedicated to examining her own implicit biases as well as systemic injustices in an effort to continue her work as an anti-racist.

Her approach to midwifery is rooted in intersectional feminism, an acceptance of identity in all its forms, and a deep respect for all bodies.  She is committed to providing safe, trauma-informed care for every person and family that she works with. 

Jenna spends most of her free time outdoors, and can often be found walking around Prospect Park with her dog, Rosie, camping up and down the coast, or swimming in the ocean.   She lives in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn. 

Pelvic Floor Specialist

Sonia Reiter (she/her)

Sonia graduated from SUNY Downstate with a Master’s of Science in Occupational Therapy and received a Bachelor of the Arts in Dance from Oberlin College. She has been teaching yoga since 2007 with a special emphasis on pre and postnatal yoga since having her own child in 2016. In her occupational therapy practice she uses awareness training, yoga, manual therapy, targeted exercise, breath work and lifestyle modification to help women find relief from various conditions. Sonia is skilled in helping her clients navigate the psychological and social impact that pelvic floor issues have on relationships and day to day life.

Sonia trained in pelvic floor rehabilitation with Herman & Wallace Institute and Lindsey Vestal of the Functional Pelvis.  She studied prenatal and postnatal yoga with Jane Austin, Lara Kohn Thompson and Beth Donnelly Caban. In addition to her work with Nettle Wellness, she teaches prenatal yoga and facilitates new parent support groups at Juniper Yoga and Healing Arts and trains yoga teachers in how to teach pregnant students in workshops throughout the city.

As part of the philosophy at Nettle Wellness, all prenatal patients meet with Sonia for a pelvic floor evaluation. To book an appointment with Sonia, check out her website .

Sonia lives in Brooklyn with her husband, Michael and son, Casio.

lactation consultant

Abby Block (she/her)

Abby became enthralled with birth during her first pregnancy, as the compassionate care she received from her midwife and doula. While pregnant with her second child in 2013, Abby trained as a birth doula in hopes of offering similar care to other families. She continues to attend births all over NYC in various settings, and since then has become a lactation counselor, birth assistant, and Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator..

Abby is pursuing board certification in lactation as well as a Master of Science degree in Midwifery at SUNY Downstate University. Prior to birth work, Abby developed curriculum at a holistic nutrition school and was a dancer. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Dance from Sarah Lawrence College and grew up in Western Mass.

 Besides anything birth-related, Abby loves to cook, bike, hike, and explore quiet parts of the city. She lives in East Flatbush with two sons, Milo and Arbor, and Benjamin the bunny. To book an appointment with Abby check out her website .

Practice administrator + Birth assistant

Maddie Petersil (she/her)

Maddie works as a doula in the NYC area and will be taking her boards this summer to become a registered nurse - headed to midwifery school one day!

From a very young age, Maddie stepped into her role as caregiver for her terminally ill father, and learned, albeit through a great deal of heartbreak, that caregiving and supporting people in transitional experiences in their lives is something that felt innate to her, something that she feels called to do. With a love of working with kiddos and their families--Maddie stepped into her role as doula, supporting people prenatally, in labor/birth, and in the postpartum period.

Having grown up as a singer/performer herself, you'll catch Maddie inevitably singing sweet little tunes to her clients' babies--this is one of her deepest joys. Maddie lives in Brooklyn with her musician husband, Jamie, and their rescue pittie, Houston (her soul dog and pronounced like the city in Texas where Houston is from, rather than the NYC street).

Birth Assistant / lactation consultant

Alessandra De Almeida (she/her)

Alessandra is a certified doula, lactation counselor and homebirth assistant. She has worked in the New York homebirth community for more than 10 years, and comes to the Nettle Wellness team with love, excitement, and commitment to homebirth. Alessandra was born in New York and raised between New York, Brazil, and Italy. She is fluent in Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and English, and currently lives in Brooklyn with her husband, two kids, cat and dog. From a young age, Alessandra committed herself to advocating for individuals and families, and working to undo systematic oppression. At age 25, Alessandra attended her first births while working at a community health center in central Mexico teaching adolescents about sexual health. After returning to NYC she worked as a union organizer in Washington Heights, eventually moving on to work with youths who had been through the criminal justice system.

Alessandra’s first childbirth experience brought her back to the world of midwifery. She gave birth to her first child at home in 2011, and soon after began training and working as a birth doula. Over the next seven years she attended more than 240 births. In 2017 she was invited to train as a homebirth assist and has been working with NYC homebirth midwives since. She is honored to hold space and support families on their birth, postpartum, and lactation journeys.