Certified nurse midwife

Jo Zasloff (she/her)

Jo has been a certified nurse midwife (CNM) in New York City for over 17 years. After the birth of her second child in 2017, Jo decided to bring her work closer to home by opening her own private practice in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, where she resides. Her goal was to create a space she herself would enjoy visiting, a place that embodied the care, comfort, and attention she believes all patients deserve. She envisioned a practice that was not only beautiful but also safe, calming, and inviting—a space that smelled wonderful, bathed in natural light, played soothing music, offered soft cotton gowns, and, importantly, had no stirrups. With this vision in mind, Jo founded Nettle Wellness, a practice rooted in empowerment, trust, and holistic care.

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 in Nursing and a Master’s in Midwifery from Columbia University School of Nursing. Jo is licensed as both a Registered Nurse (RN) and a Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM) in the state of New York.

Jo began her career as a midwife at Mount Sinai East Hospital in New York City in 2008. Over the years, she has worked in a wide range of settings, including busy hospitals, small private practices, birthing centers, and home births, gaining valuable experience and deepening her passion for personalized, compassionate care.

Before transitioning into midwifery, Jo was a Sexual Health advocate for sex workers in San Francisco’s Mission District. She also spent time in Ghana and India, training with midwives and herbalists, which further shaped her approach to holistic health. Prior to opening Nettle Wellness, Jo co-owned and operated a private midwifery practice in NYC, where she provided care at the Roosevelt Birth Center.

Outside of midwifery, Jo runs Sisters Body, a non-toxic hair and body care line, with her two sisters.

Jo lives with her husband, Anand, their 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.

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 practicing midwife 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

Doris Hồ-Kane (she/her)

Doris is an archivist, baker, and writer. She is a proud daughter of refugees; Vietnamese boat people. She holds a B.F.A. in apparel and textile design, and worked in many different facets of the fashion industry for 15 years. After having her first child she made the compelling connection between nourishing her baby and nourishing her community, so she pirouetted into baking, specifically Vietnamese baking. Around the same time, she returned to her work as an archivist, galvanized by the 2016 election.

She is the caretaker of an archive that focuses on East and Southeast Asian women’s history. As a grandchild of a TVM (Traditional Vietnamese Medicine) and TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) doctor and herbal pharmacologist, Doris has always been drawn to and fascinated by integrative modalities of care and holistic healthcare. Recently, in her baking and culinary work, she has been exploring how to infuse the tenets of TVM and TCM into edible pieces of art that can heal and restore with specific regard pregnancy, birth, and postpartum.

Doris lives in Brooklyn, NY with her husband and three children—the youngest, welcomed earth-side by Jo Zasloff. And because Doris doesn’t plan on having a fourth this was her clever way of returning to Jo’s radical orbit.

Birth assistant

Maddie Petersil (she/her)

Maddie is a registers nurse and works in a busy Brooklyn hospital.

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.

Massage Therapist

Susan Scarpinito

Susan is a New York State licensed massage therapist and a graduate of Pacific College of Health and Sciences. With a deep commitment to creating a safe, supportive space for each client, Susan ensures they feel seen, heard, and valued throughout their healing journey.

As a Karuna Reiki Master and experienced Reiki practitioner since 2008, Susan blends her intuitive healing skills with a strong belief in the power of communication during treatments. She views open dialogue with her clients as essential to enhancing the effectiveness of each session.

Susan specializes in a wide range of therapeutic modalities, including perinatal massage, craniosacral therapy, manual lymphatic drainage, oncology massage, and therapeutic massage. Her integrative approach tailors each treatment to meet the unique needs of her clients, fostering both physical and emotional well-being.