Our Executive Board
Cynthia Wood Executive Director
Owner/Educator of Infant Massage Charlotte
Morgan Griffith Executive Board
Founder/Sleep Specialist of Sleep Pea Infant & Toddler Counsulting
Dr. Jen DiCicco, PT, DPT Executive Board
PT, DPT, Owner of Baby Steps LLC
Dr. Brenda Gajowski PT, DPT Executive Board
Owner/Physical Therapist of She Thrives Physical Therapy and Wellness
Casey Jones MSW, LCSW Board member
Owner/Therapist at Carolina Family and Maternal Counseling
.
Rachel M. Davis MPH, RD, LDN, IBCLC, RLC, Board member
Owner, Registered Dietitian and Board Certified Lactation Consultant
Stephanie Rodsater, DC Board member
Owner/Chiropractor Adjusting the World Chiropractic
Megan Spivey Board member
Certified Maternity Consultant, The Peace of Mind Project
Our Why
Humans are biologically wired to grow, live and thrive in a village; a clan; a tribe. Because of
this, infants have a high dependency on multi-generational modeling, interaction and near-
constant sensory contact from caregivers. Interactions with caregivers
are the driving force in a baby’s growth into compassionate,
regulated, resilient, confident and empathic child and adult. Today, in the United
States in particular, new caregivers often live far from family, which results in isolation and
extreme pressure on one to two increasingly distracted and often stressed caregivers.
We rightfully prioritize the physical wellness of pregnant mothers and infants in our medical
system, as evidenced by the average of twelve prenatal visits and seven infant visits during
the first year of life. Unfortunately, wellness for the caregiver – the essential influence on an
infant’s development – is lacking with just one postpartum visit at six weeks after
birth. .
However, a caregiver’s physical and mental well-being have everything to do with
the infant’s development and potential to thrive. Exhausted new parents
are expected to navigate their own physical and emotional needs often while feeling insecure as
to whether their struggles are ‘normal’ or expected.
Enter Mind Body Baby NC. We are a collective of infant and postpartum practitioners that
plan to be a part of are changing that narrative for new families in Charlotte because taking
care of the caregiver IS taking care of the infant.
Our Mission
Mind Body Baby NC (MBB), a non-profit collective of infant and postpartum practitioners,
strives to educate and support new caregivers through the postpartum experience because
when caregivers are nurtured and knowledgeable, children have the ability to reach their
fullest potential.
MBB’s was founded in April 2018 by four practitioners, who continue to serve as
Executive Board members. The MBB collective has quickly expanded to a larger
community of practitioners and volunteers providing prenatal and postpartum
support to caretakers and families. The term ‘practitioner’ includes services such as
lactation consulting, maternal mental health therapy, doulas, midwives, infant massage,
chiropractors, sleep consultants, and other support and educational services.
MBB fulfills our mission primarily through free, facilitated postpartum
support groups open to all caregivers in strategic locations around Charlotte on a regular,
reliable basis. Each group is facilitated by a perinatal specialist with perinatal mental health
training with specific training in maternal mental health and also features a rotation of the
collective’s practitioners to educate caregivers, thereby increasing confidence. Groups are attended by
fellow moms in the same season of the caregiving journey to help normalize the experience
and form community. We also have a Community Care Fund to close the gap when money
is an obstacle to access needed support including transportation for services, and more
direct, individual care in mental health, lactation or physical recovery.
Long-Term Vision
Our long-term goal is to have multiple permanent locations to serve various
Charlotte communities. These permanent locations would offer a multitude of offerings and
services to support any and all new caregivers in our community. In addition, we would
create a virtual community via a comprehensive app that connects parents with expertise
within our collective and community amongst the caregivers we serve. We aspire to build
the currently lacking village that our community’s littlest humans and more importantly, their
caregivers, need to thrive.