About our Cooperative Members

Abby Bordner, CD, ICCE,  is the Director of The Birthing Tree Cooperative.  She brought together this wonderful group of women at the end of 2004 to offer the community of Santa Fe (and surrounding areas) a unique collaboration of services related to pregnancy, birth and parenting.  She has worked in family health for over ten years; at Planned Parenthood, Lovelace Pediatrics and Galisteo Ob/Gyn in a nursing capacity.  Abby works in the Cooperative as a childbirth educator, labor and postpartum doula and as a private consultant for childbirth and parenting.  She draws from all her experience, especially that of being the mother of two.  In relationship with her class participants and clients, she builds a safe and nonjudgmental space that leads to self discovery and connection with partners and family members.  Abby believes our birth experience is an opportunity to practice determination, letting go, acceptance and grace.  If a woman uses these skills to birth her baby, the same skills are useful for parenting and all of life’s greatest tasks.

Sharon Laurie, CD, sees birth as an act of true power and a spiritual passage. As a healer she has worked for over 27 years, focusing on emotional and spiritual healing, helping people discover their true voice and heal the wounded heart. She also worked, in the far past, in coronary care nursing. With this understanding of western medicine and alternative healing modalities she takes those experiences into her work as a doula, assisting women and their partners in being well prepared, through informed choice, and reminding women of their power and ability to birth from a place of flexibility and strength, love and grace,, surrender and wisdom- however their unique birthing experience unfolds. Attending births since 1983, she sees birth as a natural and normal process and works with a woman to trust her own body wisdom for the different stages of labor.

Through the Cooperative Sharon also teaches Childbirth Preparation classes, the Natural Childbirth class and directs the Mentoring Program of the Birthing Tree, guiding and supporting new interns into becoming certified doulas. She has a full range of birthing experiences and feels it is a great honor to attend women and their partners while birthing their baby.

Kathy Shapiro, CD Kathy has been supporting families with the childbirth process for 32 years. She is a certified childbirth assistant. Her experience with children and babies started in her own family of 10 siblings. She has worked as a teacher, a recreation counselor, babysitter and friend of children all her life. Her philosophy of childbirth is embodied in the following quote by Louise Erdrich, "Women are strong, strong, terribly strong. We don't know how strong we are until we're pushing out our babies." She would like to help women to realize their strength.
Kathy enjoys biking, hiking, walking, and swimming. She is an avid reader and has belonged to a book club for 12 years. She loves to travel and spend time with her family and friends.

Simone Snyder, CD, completed the mentorship program through the Birthing Tree in early 2008 and is thrilled to call herself a Certified Doula. Simone was first introduced to the concept of a Doula while attending New York University for Anthropology and Women’s Studies. Her inspiration for becoming a Doula came from her own experience of having labor support present at her son’s birth in 2001. Simone believes that pregnancy, childbirth, and parenting offer a unique opportunity for individuals to gain knowledge, power, and strength. She also finds inspiration in the ways in which women empower themselves and make informed decisions about their own birthing philosophies. Simone is also a licensed massage therapist specializing in prenatal and postpartum massage as well as a Reiki practitioner. She has plans to also become a certified childbirth educator and infant massage therapist in the future. Simone feels very blessed to have found this path and is grateful for each birth she attends. She has many passions some of which include; spending time with her family, traveling, being outdoors, and she is an avid reader.

Laurie Holmes, CNM, CE,  has been in the birthing community in Santa Fe for over 20 years.  She was a home birth midwife for several years and now provides prenatal care and facilitates group prenatal care for Drs. Diane Friedman and Rita Dodge.  She teaches childbirth preparation classes for The Birthing Tree Cooperative.  In her spare time she loves to ride horses, cook, travel and be with her children.

Jinny Erdely, LM has been attending home births in Santa Fe and the surrounding areas for many years.  She is a lactation specialist and teaches the Breastfeeding Class for The Birthing Tree Cooperative. Of her many hobbies, she enjoys gardening and traveling the most.