Best Resources for New Parents in Jersey City-Hoboken
We know that being pregnant, childbearing and parenting is extremely challenging. It can be overwhelming to figure out what to do and where to go, so we created a comprehensive guide with wide-ranging resources to help you and your family. Whether you’re looking for a doula/midwife, a wellness specialist, or a parent support group, we have a catalog of highly-rated resources for you to choose from. Keep reading for our list of best resources for new parents in the Jersey City and Hoboken area.
Looking for alternative resources to Western obstetrics? Doulas and midwives are increasingly popular healthcare professionals trained to support you before, during, and after pregnancy by providing emotional and spiritual support. Below is a list of local options.
DOULAS
Two Doulas & You
Colleen Goidel is a retired labor doula CAPPA-certified in childbirth and postpartum education. She offers virtual and in-person services for expectant parents, including childbirth, lactation, and newborn care classes.
Hoboken Doulas
Hoboken Doulas provides non-medical birth and postpartum care, childbirth classes, and prenatal yoga classes. They serve families throughout Hudson County and the greater Northern New Jersey metropolitan area.
JC Bump and Baby
Michelle Goita offers prenatal and postpartum yoga classes, well-care workshops, and general birthing support. She loves helping mothers connect with their babies, offering a full spectrum of care before, during, and after pregnancy.
Mamarama
Since 2012, Jayne Freeman has run Mamarama, a perinatal provider serving new and expecting families in the Jersey City area. She is a CEA/MNY-certified childbirth educator, breastfeeding counselor, and postpartum doula, providing a variety of group and private childbirth classes.
Tapestry Birth Collective
TBC is run by a collective of birth professionals, including Marci Mathew, Cara Birnbaum Harmon, and Lisa Schillo Acevedo. It provides education and support through pregnancy, birth, and early parenting. Their services include childbirth education, birth and postpartum doula care, breastfeeding support, and other workshops and services to help women and their loved ones build a support system and enter parenthood confidently.
The Midwives of New Jersey
Providing professional care for anticipating and new mothers in Hoboken, Madison, and Hackettstown, The Midwives of New Jersey believes birth should be an empowering experience, whether in the hospital or at home. As a client-focused practice, it goes above and beyond to answer questions and provide social support. They assist you with the first breastfeeding and will check in postpartum with phone calls and/or home visits.
Seeds to Mums
Seeds to Mums offers practical, evidence-based childbirth education classes to prepare parents for pregnancy, labor, delivery, and postpartum. Courses are designed to provide information taught in a welcoming, interactive, and comforting environment. Its childbirth education class is taught by a clinician with many years of experience in obstetrics, including infertility and delivery/labor. It also offers weekend virtual classes and private in-home courses. In-person classes will be available soon.
Looking for ways to get exercise and move your body during pregnancy? Check out these prenatal yoga classes and massage therapists.
PRENATAL YOGA CLASSES
Yoga Shunya
Yoga Shunya is located in downtown Jersey City at the historic Majestic Theatre. It offers a wide range of courses, including prenatal classes.
JC Bump and Baby
JC Bump and Baby offers a variety of fun and informative activities and classes for moms and babies. It connects moms through support groups, yoga classes, and workshops. It also runs a private Facebook support group. It promises to give guidance to women in every stage of motherhood.
Surya Yoga
Surya Yoga in Jersey City hosts prenatal yoga classes for soon-to-be moms. Their classes are designed to help you deal with physical and hormonal changes in your body while mentally and physically preparing you for labor. Their experienced teachers will help you alleviate backaches, sciatic pain, and indigestion, improving circulation and strengthening pelvic and uterus muscles.
MASSAGES
Laura Lacey
Laura Lacey is a massage therapist, nutritional consultant, wellness warrior, and champion of women. Pregnant women, babies, and new moms are her passion. She offers prenatal and postpartum massages, partner massages, and reiki to support you during this particular time.
Salvation Wellness
At Salvation Wellness, each massage is tailored to meet your specific bodywork goals and preferences. It offers prenatal massages to target pregnancy aches, pains, and inflammation.
MetaBody Work
META Bodywork is a wellness sanctuary where holistic wellness and modern science meet to address modern aches and pains (hello, text neck). We use massage modalities backed by science to help you through your pregnancy, postpartum, and beyond. Our bodywork team draws on various modalities to open, balance & align your body. We understand that each client has a unique pattern of symptoms that requires an individual response.
Are you looking for a healthcare specialist to help with pregnancy or parenting? We have a list to cover all your bases, from lactation consultants to physical therapists, sleep trainers, feed specialists, acupuncturists, pelvic therapists, gynecologists, and speech therapists who can help you throughout your pregnancy journey.
LACTATION CONSULTANTS
Feedings and Feelings
Meg Manangón is a registered nurse and International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) with over ten years of experience working with growing families. She aims to provide holistic, family-centered support to make breastfeeding a spiritual bonding experience. She provides prenatal classes and postpartum support both in-home or virtual, including expert pumping, combo, and formula-feeding consults. You can reach her at 201-855-6811.
Carmen Baker-Clark
Carmen Baker-Clark helps teach mothers how to breastfeed as the manager of lactation services at Hoboken University Medical Center. You can reach her at 201-214-7222.
Jennifer Lisimachio
Jennifer Lisimachio is an IBCLC and former Mahala Lactation and Perinatal Services partner. She also is an accredited La Leche League leader. You can reach her at 917-312-5700.
Milk Body Soul
Milk Body Soul combines the skills and expertise of an IBCLC with a nurse practitioner to offer you the most holistic approach during your breastfeeding and lactation journey. It provides in-home holistic lactation services and classes for parents, caregivers, and health care professionals. You can reach them at 215-200-9200.
PHYSICAL THERAPISTS
Harborside Sports & Spine
Harborside Sport & Spine provides exceptional chiropractic and physical therapy services that can help you support your body’s health from the inside out. Whether you have suffered an injury or want to improve your mobility, they can offer services from physical therapy to acupuncture to help.
Little Movers
Elizabeth Morel offers physical therapy, specializing in pediatrics and pre-and post-natal care. Through various exercises and sessions, she helps to treat the physical “damage” to the pelvic floor caused by pregnancy and birth.
Liberty Physical Therapy
This is the town’s largest outpatient physical therapy facility, conveniently located in the heart of Jersey City. The state-of-the-art facility offers orthopedic, spine, sport, pelvic, vestibular, neuro, and pediatric therapy. Its pelvic floor services aim to help women strengthen the muscles, fascia, and ligaments post-pregnancy.
Exchange Physical Therapy Group
The Women’s Health Program at this practice aims to safely reduce pregnancy-related back pain. Its services are offered by trained physical therapists who specialize in helping women during pregnancy.
Push
Push is a Prenatal/Postnatal Personal Training and Group Fitness Studio.
SLEEP TRAINING
Miss Megan
Miss Megan owns and founded Mindful Montessori, Mantra Sleep Solutions, and The Miss Megan Effect. For years, her unique methods, from “conscious parenting” and “non-cry-it-out sleep solutions,” have served families within the greater New York City area. She specializes in sleeping solutions, homeschooling, coaching parents, and providing overnight care. She will help create a personalized plan for parents depending on their needs.
Sleepy Mama
Nicole is a member of the Association of Professional Sleep Consultants who knows numerous methods that help families get more sleep. She provides a complimentary 15-minute phone consult for all her clients.
FEEDING SPECIALIST
Dr. Alyssa Kane, MS CCC-SLP, IBCLC
She is a certified speech-language pathologist and IBCLC with over 10 years of experience. She and her team provide in-home speech and feeding evaluations and therapy throughout Jersey City, Hoboken, and Manhattan/Brooklyn. Her practice services infants through adolescents with various feeding/swallowing difficulties and speech delays. Alyssa also performs community and professional education workshops.
ACUPUNCTURE
Erin Kumpf Acupuncture & Herbs
It provides women in surrounding areas with prenatal and postnatal support through acupuncture. During pregnancy, it relieves tension, helps prevent miscarriage or premature labor, and even promotes labor when nearing expected delivery. Postpartum it helps improve sleep, regulates hormones, increases milk production, promotes healing of the body tissue, and reduces postpartum depression.
Acuworx
Acuworx Acupuncture Studio is an acupuncture office providing services in Jersey City. It offers various acupuncture treatments that can help to relieve pain, improve sleep and energy, promote stress relief, and enhance mood.
Acupuncture Center
NJ Acupuncture Center has served Jersey City and Bayonne since 2016. It offers treatments customized to each patient’s needs with postnatal and prenatal services.
PELVIC REHAB
Dr. Judith Meer, DPT
Judith Meer holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a doctorate in physical therapy, which helps her to provide collaborative and compassionate care. She treats women for pelvic floor and post-operative conditions, including post-prostatectomy, endometriosis, interstitial cystitis, prolapse, incontinence, and various pain conditions. She provides her patients with knowledge and tools to tackle any bowel, bladder, or sex-related problems they may be dealing with after delivery. She is also the only local practitioner who offers home visits to postpartum women living in Jersey City and Hoboken.
HOSPITALS AND GYNECOLOGISTS
Jersey City Medical Center
Jersey City Medical Center offers a full range of women’s health services to women of any age, from routine care to diagnostic procedures. At Jersey City Medical Center, their trusted multidisciplinary team of experts will help you prepare for each development from preconception to post-delivery. Every expectant mother is provided complete services, including current education on childbirth and infant care and comfortable and safe delivery. Their mother-baby unit features state-of-the-art technology in a soothing setting.
Hoboken University Medical Center
This award-winning center is deeply committed to meeting the health needs of its community with advanced medical technologies and state-of-the-art care. It has a 34-bay emergency room with a dedicated OB-GYN department, as well as private rooms in its family birth unit, specialty medicine for inpatient rehabilitation, transitional care, child and adult behavioral health services, women’s health services, wound care, orthopedics, robotic surgery, and other surgical subspecialties.
Palisades Medical Center
The physicians at Palisades Women’s Group evaluate, diagnose, and treat virtually any disorder or disease of the female reproductive system. They offer regular visits, exams, screenings, family planning guidance, and more. The practice believes in the importance of prenatal care to increase the chances of a healthy delivery.
Riverside Medical Group
This pediatric office’s main goal is to combine quality medical care with compassionate doctors for your family. From birth to college, its patient-focused personalized practice can provide you with a family primary care physician. Their pediatricians can help manage the physical, behavioral, and mental health of your child or adolescent. Riverside Medical Group also has OBGYN services and parental departments.
The Birth Injury Justice Center
The Birth Injury Justice Center is dedicated to supporting children and families affected by disabilities caused at birth. Erb’s palsy leaves a child with nerve damage. In many cases, it can be cured with proper treatment and care. It strives to provide answers and guidance to ensure that families receive the assistance they need to help improve their overall quality of life.
SPEECH THERAPIST
Baby Signs by Elaine Langsam
The Baby Signs Program helps children develop both language and cognitive skills, which is critical for hitting the stages of development.
INFERTILITY AND POSTPARTUM
Family Wellness Support Center at RCC
Family Wellness is dedicated to helping clients and couples navigate infertility, pregnancy challenges, and postpartum depression or anxiety. They are in-network with most insurances and have a team of therapists to help you. They will be opening for in-person soon at their new location at 349 3rd Street, Jersey City, NJ 07302. Until then, all sessions are conducted via Telehealth.
Looking to connect with parents near you? Below is a list of groups to join for support and resource recommendations.
SUPPORT GROUPS FOR PARENTS
JCFamilies Meetup Group
JCFamilies is a non-profit organization that connects over 25,000 local parents through various platforms, providing the local community with information, resources, and wholesome family events. JC Families is the largest and fastest-growing community of parents in Jersey City. Follow the JCFamilies meetup group if you want to know about the latest events, mommy meetups, and workshops for families in Jersey City.
Paulus Hook Mamas
Are you a new mom in Paulus Hook? Whether you’re new to the area or just looking to make new friends, this meetup group was created for mommies of babies and toddlers who want to connect with each other. The group shares ideas for consistent play dates, holiday parties, family events, and mom-only events while helping to support the local businesses here in Paulus Hook and the greater Jersey City area.
Jersey City Moms
This is a Facebook support group for moms in the area.
Jersey City Mamas
This support group aims to create an accepting community of mothers looking to connect and empower one another. Motherhood is difficult; Jersey City Mamas wants to provide a safe space for you to figure it out with the support of each other. It shares local mom experiences, events, and other resources.
La Leche League
La Leche League International is a non-governmental, non-profit organization that advocates and provides educational resources about breastfeeding. It aims to provide mother-to-mother support, encouragement, information, and education, promoting a better understanding of breastfeeding as an essential element in the healthy development of the baby and its mother.
Other Resources
Village Childcare Experts
They aim to help parents by connecting them with childcare experts for one-on-one, interactive video sessions. They will work together to build a practical toolkit for happy and emotionally healthy children.
Looking to do a maternity photoshoot or take an updated family portrait with new ones in the picture? Below is a list of local photographers specializing in maternity and family portraits.
Photographers
Shoott is a female-run startup offering photoshoots throughout Jersey City with vetted local professional photographers. They can capture any milestone, from maternity to engagement to family fun.
Photography by Eshoe
Eshoe is equipped to take on newborn, maternity, and family projects as a mother. She has a studio in town.
Tanya Buran Photography
Tanya Buran Photography has been photographing Jersey City families since 2013. She specializes in maternity, newborn and family photography and offers beautiful sessions at clients’ homes, outdoors, and in her Jersey City studio. Digital packages as well as prints and heirloom products, are offered to clients. As a mom of two, Tanya Buran believes that photography is truly one of the most special ways to hold on to family memories.
Newport Babies Photography
The Newport Babies Photography award-winning team offers services to families in Jersey City, Hoboken, and Manhattan. It aims to preserve your family and build its legacy through photography services.
It takes a village to raise a child. JCFamilies wants to help connect with all the resources available to pregnant new parents in the area. Let us know if we have any recommendations. We want to hear from you!
Spiritual Wellness
Jacquie Bird, Spiritual Wellness offers products and services that support, guide, and
empower the individual. The entire platform and intent are on stress and anxiety relief, mindfulness, and personal growth. Jacquie is a sound healer and the Creator/Practitioner of StressBusters Guided Meditation, in which she offers private and group sessions. She is the author of the book 28 Daily Thoughts & Mantras 4 Mindfulness—Keys 4 Stress Relief & Personal Growth. Jacquie also creates guided meditation audio tracks as well as the meditation music she calls SoundSoulVibin’ and is the Owner/Creator of the handmade wellness brand MODAL VISIONS, which is rooted in the energetically dynamic properties of gemstones, crystals, and copper.
www.jacquiebirdspiritualwellness.com and @JacquieBirdSpiritualWellness on Instagram.
Updated May 1, 2023
