Faculty
CORE FACULTY
Jessica Stevenson, R.N., L.M., C.P.M
Jessica was born at home and grew up hearing her parents talk appreciatively about the care they received from midwives. It was the tenderness of their accounts that led Jessica to pursue a career in midwifery. Jessica graduated from the Florida School of Traditional Midwifery in 2003. As a student, Jessica was able to intern in a maternity clinic in Cartagena, Colombia, which provided her with both high-risk experience and a stronger understanding, cross-culturally of the birth experience. She worked at FSTM as administrative assistant from 2000-2003. After 9 years of practicing as a midwife, Jessica gave birth to her son at home in 2012. She returned as an instructor in 2014. At FSTM, Jessica teaches the core midwifery courses: Antepartum, Intrapartum and Postpartum, as well as Diagnostic Testing and Obstetric Complications. Jessica works with our Gainesville location.
Mary Harris, L.M.
Mary Harris has been a licensed midwife since May 2000 after graduating from the International School of Midwifery in May 2000. Prior to midwifery, she earned a bachelor’s degree and worked as a Therapeutic Recreation Specialist in traumatic brain injury. She is married with three adult children; Lila, Ariana, and Eli. My daughters were born vaginally in the hospital and Eli was born at home. She strives to live a conscious, healthy lifestyle, practicing veganism since 1986 and embracing natural modalities such as homeopathics, essential oils, and herbs. She believes her ongoing desire for knowledge and growth keeps her young, connected, and aware of the constantly changing world around me and the uniqueness of every pregnancy. Mary teaches the core midwifery courses: Antepartum, Intrapartum, and Postpartum, as well as diagnostic testing and practicum courses. Mary works with our North Miami Beach location.
Adjunct Faculty
ABIGAIL FLETCHER, L.M.
Abigail graduated from the International School of Midwifery in 2009, and has been practicing here in Gainesville since then. They have been honored to attend hundreds of births including the births of both of their beloved nieces! Abigail is passionate about Birth Justice, and strives to make midwifery care accessible to all who desire it. Abigail teaches the Midwifery Practicum courses at the Gainesville location.
Amanda Mann, R.n., L.M.
Amanda Mann, L.M. comes to FSTM with more than 15 years experience as a teacher, school administrator, and most importantly, an FSTM graduate. She is also a registered nurse. Amanda fervently believes that birth is an essential life process that has the potential to transform, inspire, and engage. She believes that midwifery is an essential intersection between passion and the world’s greatest need. Amanda is married with four boys, and enjoys reading and working at her local midwifery clinic. Amanda teaches Healthcare Skills I & II.
CAL JANAE, Clinical Herbalist
Cal Janae, is a clinical herbalist, botanist, farmer & plant educator located in Ithaca New York. They have been studying plants for their entire life: as a child they were led on plant and bird watching walks by their father before they could walk on their own. Later, they formalized their passion for the natural world and living sustainably in it with a degree in Ethnobotany from Drake University. Cal then studied and apprenticed with 7Song at the Northeast School of Botanical Medicine where they are currently employed. Cal works as a farmer at Indian Creek Farm/Cummins Nursery in Ithaca New, volunteers as a clinical herbalist at the Ithaca Free Clinic, works at the Bramble Collective and works as an herbalist & botanist in their private practice. In their free time Cal maintains a strong wanderlust and rapt interest in the botanical arts, bird watching & their dog, Bowie. Cal teaches Herb Workshop for the Gainesville and North Miami Beach locations.
Kaleen Richards, C.N.M.
Kaleen’s midwifery journey began after reading Spiritual Midwifery by Ina May Gaskin in college. She attended Frontier Nursing University and is now a CNM in Florida and owner of Tree of Life Birth and Gynecology Center. Her passion is divinely guided and she is grateful for the educational path she has taken, which allows her to function as a health care provider in home birth, birth center, and hospital. She believes she is a protector of women during their birth process and honors choice for all. She has three amazing sons, two of whom were born at home with a local midwife. At FSTM, Kaleen teaches Suturing for Midwives.
Kerri Audette, L.M., C.P.M.
Kerri Audette, LM, CPM, is a licensed midwife and graduate of Florida School of Traditional Midwifery. She is a co-owner and midwife with Gainesville Midwives, her home birth practice. Kerri was inspired to pursue work in women’s health as a founding member of the Gainesville Roller Rebels, a local women’s roller derby league. That experience led her to realize the power and potential that sisterhood can create, and she has been attending births in North Central Florida and instructing childbirth education for the last four years. She also holds a Bachelors of Design from the University of Florida School of Architecture. Kerri is a Gainesville native and birthed her own child at home with midwives in 2013. At FSTM, Kerri teaches Clinical Lab, Clinical Skills Practicum Lab.
Sharon Bernecki DeJoy, PHD, MPH, CPH, CPM
Sharon is currently Associate Professor in the department of Health and Program Director for the BS in Public Health at West Chester University of Pennsylvania. She received her AS in Midwifery from Miami-Dade College and a BA from Columbia University. She holds an MPH in Maternal Child Health and a PhD in Community and Family Health from the University of South Florida College of Public Health. Sharon’s first academic teaching experience included the development of a Maternal Child Health Community Health Worker training curriculum, which she taught at two community colleges in Florida.Sharon has also taught in the MS in Global Health program at Northwestern University and at various midwifery schools. She has twice won the Association of Teachers of Maternal and Child Health Innovative Teaching in MCH Award. In addition to her interest in midwifery, Sharon’s research focuses on weight stigma and the intersection of size discrimination with other types of discrimination in maternal child health. Sharon lives with her husband and large dog in the Philadelphia suburbs, where they are slowly renovating two old houses. In her spare time, she enjoys tinkering with the space-time continuum in failed attempts to create more spare time. Also, reading and drinking coffee. She has been known to collect frogs. She teaches Research and Public Health for both locations.
SORELL PAGLIARA, L.M.
Sorell is a licensed midwife and a graduate of The Florida School of Traditional Midwifery. Her exposure to the loving and expert care of midwives began with the home birth of her siblings. She was led to midwifery as a career after the birth of her daughters, Willow and Juniper. Working with local midwives she has attended home birth and birth center births in her home town of Gainesville, Florida and the surrounding area since 2012. Sorell teaches Clinical Lab, Clinical Skills Practicum Lab.
TAMAra Taitt, M.S, L.m., LMFT
Tamara is a licensed midwife and a licensed marriage and family therapist who trained as a midwife in the Miami Dade College program before it closed, Tamara has a varied background in women’s reproductive health activism and has been working in maternal, infant and child health for the last decade. Tamara has a deep interest in the sustainability of the midwifery profession and politics as it relates to birth. She was the Southeast representative on the board of the Midwives Alliance of North America for seven years. Tamara currently serves on the board of the Foundation for the Advancement of Midwifery and is the co-owner/founder of a group of birth-related businesses in Miami, including: The Gathering Place, a pregnancy and parenting resource center; Peapod Essentials, a natural parenting store; Blue Mountain Midwives, a home birth practice and non-profit Project Motherpath. Tamara also works at Midwives College of Utah. Tamara teaches Psychology for Midwives, Establishing and Maintaining a Practice on both the Gainesville and North Miami Beach campuses.