Meet my lovely Team of birthworkers!

Krystina Friedlander, Midwife (she/her)

Hi, I'm Krystina, a licensed home birth midwife living on Lenape land in Lawrenceville, NJ.

I do what I love, and I believe that what I do matters.

I'm a midwife with a passion for collaborative, empowered healthcare. I value traditional wisdom as well as current, evidence-based practice, and strongly believe that midwifery care provides the best of both.

In addition to my birth work, I teach, knit, spin wool, ferment things, focus on climate change and community adaptation, and write. On my days off-call, you'll find me hiking with my daughter, doting on my medicinal herb garden, or reading Slavic fairy tales. I love being a mama and seeing the world through my daughter’s eyes, and I love that she always asks to hear the story when I come home to her from a birth.

Jaci bonanno, RN/ mIDWIFE aSSISTANT (she/her)

Hi! I’m Jaci (pronounced Jackie). I gave birth to my daughter in 2008, and immediately knew I wanted to be a midwife. I graduated nursing school in 2012, and the last 6 years have been spent as a labor and delivery nurse. I have also assisted births as a doula since 2011. I had such an amazing pregnancy and birth that I chose to help a family with their wish to complete their family and was a gestational carrier in 2012. So, yes, my last semester of nursing school was my first trimester of pregnancy. Some say I like a challenge.
Empathy is part of my nature. I love kindness. I love the earth and trying to save it. I love medicine making (elderberry & fire cider, and more!) I love community and being with people- women especially. I love recreating pictures and photography in general. I do NOT like Starbucks.
I know birth is where I am meant to be. I whole-heartedly believe in the physiological process of birth and feel grateful that I get to be part of each and every birth I am involved in. Because of this, I am currently in midwifery school. I look forward to attending your birth. —Oh and the furball in the picture is my puppy Ozzy. My daughter named him and he’s great.

Hi, I’m Samm Magpi! (She/her)

Traditional Home Birth Midwife / Owner

I’d like to think that I did not choose to become a midwife, but it chose me. When I say that an internal light bulb turned on during my doula training in 2012 it sounds cliche, but that’s exactly what happened. From that day forward I became obsessed with birth and everything related to it. By 2013 I was running my own doula/ birth photography business and was attending anywhere from 4-6 births per month. After attending my first home birth I immediately fell in love and was determined to become a home birth midwife.

I had my first baby at home in 2015, read my first birth story here. His birth shaped me in so many ways, a 9lb baby boy & an intense shoulder dystocia. The way my midwife calmly handled his birth and assured me that everything was okay made me feel empowered instead of traumatized.

I know that if I had I given birth in a hospital setting, my perception & birth experience would be a completely different story. I wanted to be able to provide others with the same level of care I received throughout my pregnancy, birth + postpartum.

Shortly after my son was born I started apprenticing with my own midwife, Karen Webster of WomanWise Midwifery. I attended births with her as a student all over Pennsylvania, Delaware & Maryland for 2.5 years. In 2017 I began the academic portion of my midwifery training at Birthwise Midwifery School to supplement the hands on clinical training I had been receiving while apprenticing with Karen.

In the fall of 2018 me, my partner, our 3 year old & our dog packed our bags & drove down to El Paso, Texas in order for me to finish my clinical requirements to become a Certified Professional Midwife (CPM). As a woman of color, it was important for me to train with midwives of color, so I choose to apprentice at Luna Tierra & then flew around the world and spent an intense 5 weeks at Shiphrah, a high volume birth center in the Philippines. In early 2019 I came home to New Jersey & worked with home birth midwife Rebekah Panagos to complete my clinical requirements to graduate.

In the last 8 years I’d say I have come full circle. I’ve attended over 225 births in various settings and have had the privilege of learning from several midwives (both CPM & CNM) and even obstetricians.

As I think about the windy road it took me to get here, I wouldn’t have done it any other way. Working first as a doula allowed me to gain experience in running my own business, seeing birth in all settings, become part of the birth community, build connections with other health professionals (chiropractors, acupuncturists, pelvic floor therapists, psychologists, lactation consultants, massage therapists, etc.) and work with and develop relationships with hospital-based providers.

I am thrilled to finally be able to serve the Philadelphia area as a traditional home birth midwife! My goal is to cultivate a community of like minded families to grow together & create a better future for all, one birth at a time. I enjoy getting my clients together for potlucks, playdates, skills sharing, etc. Many of my clients are like family to me, and as your midwife, my door will always be open for you!

Education & Training

• Birthwise Midwifery School – 2017-2019

• Senior student BirthHaven Midwifery – 2018-2019

• Assist/ primary student with WomanWise Midwifery – 2016-2018

• Primary student midwife at Luna Tierra Birth Center – 2018

• Primary student midwife at Shiphrah Birthing Home – 2018

• BLS for Healthcare Providers – 2020

• NRP (Neonatal Resuscitation Program) – 2020

• Childbirth Educator Training – 2013

• Birth & Postpartum Doula Training – 2012

Veronica Briggs, IBCLC (she/her)

Hi, I’m Veronica! I was born in to a military family and spent the first few yrs in various places. We relocated to USA and made South Jersey our home. I now reside in Cherry Hill (10 years and counting!) with my Partner and our three children. Experiencing my own pregnancies since 2008 and breastfeeding challenges/successes led me to recognizing that the care I desired was not as accessible as I needed it to be. As a woman and woman of color, my black experience has been met with many implicit biases and lack of options for quality care especially when it came to my choice in breastfeeding. I wondered how I could help parents receive better. 

In 2018 I had the honor to begin my Certification journey. Under the direction of my mentors, community grants, college courses, and over 2,000 hours of trainings/clinical my dedication to lactation, birth, and perinatal mental health has helped 100s of families. My consultations provide patient centered care in the comfort of your home with personalized guidance and realistic plan to reach goals. There may be some challenges but you aren’t alone.