Amy Spangler

Amy Spangler MN, RN, IBCLC, is a wife, mother, nurse, lactation consultant, educator, and author. She earned her bachelor's degree in nursing from The Ohio State University and her master's degree in maternal and child health from the University of Florida. Amy is a registered nurse, an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, a former president of the International Lactation Consultant Association, and a former chair of the United States Breastfeeding Committee. She is a member of the affiliate faculty at Emory University School of Nursing and the author of numerous publications including BREASTFEEDING, A Parent's Guide, BREASTFEEDING, Keep It Simple, BREASTFEEDING, Your Guide to a Healthy, Happy Baby, Evidence-based Guidelines for the Establishment of Exclusive Breastfeeding During the First Fourteen Days, and Clinical Guidelines for the Establishment of Exclusive Breastfeeding. Amy currently serves as President of Amy's Babies. She lectures extensively on a wide variety of maternal and child health topics. Amy lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with her husband Dennis. They have two sons, Matthew and Adam.

See articles by this author.

Carol Rivera

Carol Adams Rivera, M.A., received a bachelor’s degree in genetics, with a French minor, from the University of California at Berkeley. She also earned a master’s degree in English from Georgetown University, where she had a special interest in biology and literature. From 1989 to 2002, Carol worked at the National Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health, Georgetown University, where she began as a project associate and advanced to director of publications. As director of publications, Carol managed the editing, design, and printing of more than 80 publications and products per year, including the Bright Futures national health care guidelines on pediatric health supervision, nutrition, physical activity, mental health, and oral health. In 2002, Carol founded Health Communication Connection, a business providing health-related editing, writing, and graphic design services. Carol has worked on the editing and layout of breastfeeding publications for Amy’s Babies since 2003. Her other projects have included co-writing a booklet on prenatal care for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Carol and her husband, Ben, live in the Washington, DC, area with their two children, Benjamin and Rachel.

See articles by this author.

Katherine Brind Amour

Katherine (Katie) Brind'Amour, MS is the lead amino acid disorder follow-up specialist for the Arizona Department of Health's Newborn Screening Program as well as a freelance writer. She previously worked as a nutrition counselor for the Maricopa County, Arizona, Women, Infants, and Children's Program. She received her bachelor's and master's in biology and society at Arizona State University, with a concentration in public health research and programming for pregnant women and children. As part of her master's thesis project, Katie designed, implemented, and evaluated a prenatal education program and its ability to improve birth outcome among participants. She is dedicated to improving population health through evidence-based initiatives in maternal and child health, and loves learning about new developments in the field of health science.

See articles by this author.

Jeanmarie Connor

Jeanmarie Connor earned her undergraduate degree at Duke University where she designed her own major titled, “The Psychosocial and Ethical Aspects of Health.” She was sad to leave her Blue Devil days behind, but eager to return home to Florida. Jeanmarie earned her medical degree at the University of Florida (UF) where she also completed a pediatric residency program. Jeanmarie and her husband, Mike will be relocating once again to Austin, Texas where Mike will pursue a fellowship in oculoplastics and Jeanmarie will enter pediatric practice. The highlight of 2008 was the addition of Chase Michael Connor to the Connor family!

See articles by this author.

Heidi Green

Heidi Hauser Green, MS, MLIS, is passionate about issues that affect maternal-child health. She has spent more than a decade working in research and communications for organizations involved in projects that enhance the health of mothers and families. In addition to a bachelor’s degree from Niagara University, Heidi has earned master’s degrees from Illinois State University and the University of Pittsburgh. A member of the Allegheny County Breastfeeding Promotion Steering Committee, she keeps busy reviewing books for Children’s Literature and completing other writing/editing projects. Heidi lives in Pittsburgh, PA, with her husband Michael and their three children.

See articles by this author.

Karen Gromada

Karen Kerkhoff Gromada, MSN, RN, IBCLC, is currently employed as a lactation consultant at TriHealth Hospitals in Cincinnati, Ohio. She has worked as an adjunct clinical instructor for the departments of Parent-Child Nursing, and Community, Adult and Psychiatric Nursing at the University of Cincinnati, College of Nursing, and as a lactation consultant in a hospital setting and in private practice. Karen holds a Master of Science in Nursing degree in mental health nursing from the University of Cincinnati, and has worked in labor and delivery, childbirth education and early postpartum discharge care. A La Leche League (LLL) leader since 1975, Karen formed the first LLL group for mothers of multiples in 1977 when her third and fourth children (of five) were born 10 minutes apart. The experiences of the group mothers provided the material for her book Mothering Multiples: Breastfeeding and Caring for Twins or More. She is also co-author of Keys to Parenting Twins. Her articles and chapters on breastfeeding and parenting multiples have appeared in numerous professional and consumer publications. In addition, she is well known as a speaker on the topics of breastfeeding and parenting multiple-birth children.

See articles by this author.

Mary Jessica Hammes

Mary Jessica Hammes is a writer, trapeze artist, comic book enthusiast, vegan banana bread baker, knitter, and obsessive reader. She is also mother to young Thomas, a toddler whose present height suggests a future in either basketball, apple-picking, or some other pursuit suitable for the extremely tall. His hair is also way too long, but neither Mary Jessica nor her husband, Robert Newsome, can bear to have it cut, because they are both too sentimental for their own good. Mary Jessica likes contemplating the finer things in life: namely, extended breastfeeding, unmedicated labor (yowza!), cloth diapering, homemade toddler food, various crafty and money-saving activities, and pretty much anything to do with Hobbits, pirates, 18th century sassy British ladies looking for husbands, zombies, Doctor Who, and teenaged vampires in young adult novels. You can keep track of her writing work at maryjessicahammes.com, or read her blog at handywithaneedle.blogspot.com.

See articles by this author.

Allison Micarelli-Sokoloff

Allison Micarelli-Sokoloff, Editor in Chief of babygooroo.com, is a new mom equally excited and scared about all that parenting has to offer. She has the same questions and fears that all our babygooroo.com moms have. Why isn't he latching? Will he ever learn to like spinach? Why isn't he crawling? Yet she delights in the idea that we can all figure it out together through sharing information and advice on all things parenthood (specifically regarding the health and well-being of our babies and ourselves). Allison spent over 10 years as a Managing Editor for many publications including parents.com before joining the team at babygooroo.com. She wants all moms and dads to know that baby gooroo strives to provide parents with timely information affecting the health of their children. By alleviating anxiety and quelling fears, babygooroo.com makes it easier for readers to just be, well, mom and dad.

See articles by this author.

Elizabeth Pantley

Parenting educator Elizabeth Pantley is president of Better Beginnings, Inc., a family resource and education company. Elizabeth frequently speaks to parents at schools, hospitals, and parent groups around the world. Her presentations are received with enthusiasm, and praised as realistic, warm, and helpful. She is a regular guest on radio shows and a frequently quoted parenting expert in newspapers and magazines such as Parents, Parenting, American Baby, Woman’s Day, Good Housekeeping, and Redbook. She publishes a newsletter, Parent Tips, which is distributed in schools nationwide. Elizabeth is the author of eight best-selling parenting books published in 18 languages. Her books include The No-Cry Sleep Solution, The No-Cry Sleep Solution for Toddlers and Preschoolers, The No-Cry Discipline Solution, and The No-Cry Potty Training Solution. Elizabeth and her husband, Robert, have four children, Angela, Vanessa, David, and Coleton. Elizabeth is an involved participant in her children’s school and sports activities and has served in positions as varied as softball coach and school PTA president.

See articles by this author.

Miriam Roldan

Miriam was born and raised in New Orleans with summers spent in Guatemala, Central America. She acknowledges seeing the developing world first-hand as a child as the inspiration to work in development. She graduated from Tulane University School of Public Heath and Tropical Medicine and went to work at CARE International. There she worked on child survival projects in Latin America, Africa, and Asia, helping communities combat diarrheal disease, respiratory infections, malaria, and malnutrition and promote exclusive breastfeeding. Later she was seconded to the CORE Group, a coalition of US-based non-governmental organizations working in international child health, to incorporate polio eradication activities into existing child survival projects of its members. Following the birth of her son she resigned to spend time with him and prepare her family for a post in West Africa where they will be living in September.

See articles by this author.

Mary Ryngaert

Mary Ryngaert is a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner (PNP) and International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC). Mary is a graduate of DeSales University and Catholic University of America. A PNP for 21 years and an IBCLC of 7 years, Mary's primary focus is the support of new parents in the earliest days. Through the recently established University of Florida (UF) Center for Breastfeeding and Newborns, Mary and Center Director, Sandra Sullivan, MD, provide clinical services to families during their hospital stay and after they go home. The Center is also involved in professional education and advocacy efforts. Mary serves on the boards of Catholic Charities and the North Central Florida Healthy Start Coalition. Originally from Washington, DC, Mary has lived in Florida for 21 years with her husband Mike, a UF professor of Finance, and their three children: Jane, Andy, and Cathy.

See articles by this author.

Matt Spangler

Mr. Matt Spangler is a digital communications entrepreneur with a track record as an agency leader and brand consultant. He was a partner at thehappycorp global, and served as Chief Strategy Officer, serving clients such as Apple, Mercedes AMG, Anheuser Busch and HSBC. In April 2009 he started an independent communications consultancy and since then has provided brand consulting services to Vitaminwater, Absolut Vodka, and Naked Communications among others. He writes for The Huffington Post and provides an ongoing flow of compelling media tidbits at his personal site mrmattspangler.com.

See articles by this author.

Adam Spangler

Atlanta born, New York based writer Adam Spangler puts his academic degrees in geology and journalism to good use, reporting on environmental topics for magazines such as Vanity Fair, National Geographic Adventure, Outside, OnEarth, Plenty, and the Earth Island Journal. He fills in the gaps of the lackluster media coverage of American soccer at his blog, thisisamericansoccer.com. When not writing, Adam can be found at a jazz club, in the mountains, or spending too much money on clothing and gear.

See articles by this author.