Ruth Cummings, Director

Ruth Cummings, Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM)

When I was a little girl I used to love to hold babies.  I loved to babysit and be around young children.  When I entered my original nursing program my intent was that I would work with mothers and babies, but as life sometimes does, it took me on a different path.  I worked as a Registered Nurse in an area ICU for over eight years, during which time I also went back to school for a BS/MS in nursing at UCSF School of Nursing.  My specialty area was in critical care.  We moved to Massachusetts for one year while I worked as the Clinical Nurse Specialist in a 12 bed Adult ICU.   We returned to Sacramento where I worked as the Neuroscience Clinical Nurse Specialist at Mercy General Hospital.  I then took my last hospital based job at UC Davis Medical Center where I worked as the Neurology Clinical Nurse Specialist.  This was when I discovered my love for caring for people in the out patient setting.  So..... back to UCSF again, this time to become an Adult Nurse Practitioner.  Since finishing my NP I have worked in the same Internal Medicine/Endocrine practice that I trained with since 1996, working one afternoon per week to keep up my skills with illness care.  Always liking to be independent in my practice I came across the birth center concept through a friend I had made while at UCSF.  She had become a Certified Nurse Midwife and owned a birth center in Santa Rosa, CA.  (I later would birth our first child in that birth center with my friend attending).  I knew I didn't want to have my own baby born in an area hospital, so I took a closer look at opening a birth center and as they say, "the rest is history".

 We opened our doors January 1, 2000 with one client.  I realized it wasn't just enough to own The Birth Center, I wanted to hold babies again as I had when a little girl, but that meant I had to go back to school yet once again.  This time is was through a "mostly" distance nurse midwifery program at USC.  I completed the program in 2001.  

I am fortunate to have a wonderful group of women that have come to work with me at The Birth Center, (who you will meet below).  And am fortunate also to have attended at so many beautiful births and some really hard and exciting ones too.  I have been priviledged to meet women in their first pregnancy and to have them return with each subsequent pregnancy to give birth to all of their children at The Birth Center!  How very special to be a part of seeing families be born and children grow up.

I'm also passionate about breastfeeding and became a Lactation Specialist in 1998.  In 2009 The Birth Center became the first greater Sacramento area facility to be designated as a Baby Friendly Facility!  All of my staff are trained in helping women successfully breastfeed and we have a 96% breastfeeding rate at 6 weeks postpartum.

I'm married to a VERY birth center supportive husband and we have a 13 year old daughter, 6 year old twin boys and 2 dogs.  We live in Fair Oaks.  

Janet Carroll, Registered Nurse

Janet Carroll, RN, CLC, PCD (DONA), AAHCC

I have been a birth doula since 1988 and a Bradley childbirth instructor and postpartum doula since 1996.  I completed my journey of becoming a Registered Nurse in 2007.  My last certification was 2009 when I became a Certified Lactation Counselor.  

I worked at a local area hospital after graduating from nursing school, however with my background as a doula I quickly found that hospital births were not for me.  I attended a birth at The Birth Center in 2009 and knew I was at home with birth - this was the place for me!  I have been attending many of the births and also providing many of the early follow up home visits with the families for which I attended in labor.

I have two children.  My son is 23 and a Green Beret in the US Army.  My daughter is 21 and pursuing her acting career in Los Angeles.  My husband and I have been married for 24 years, through which time he has always supported my journey in helping women and their families through their childbearing years.

Jen Rode, Doula

Jen Rode, Doula

I completed my birth and postpartum doula training in 2003 and became DONA certified.   Since 2003  I have attended many of my own private labor clients in Sacramento area hospitals as a doula .  I became a Certified Lactation Counselor in 2009.  I started working at The Birth Center in 2010 as a birth assistant and doula.  This was when I experienced the true thrill of natural childbirth.  It is an honor to be part of the journey with these families who choose to birth their babies at The Birth Center.

I am attending classes at Folsom Lake College with plans to become a Registered Nurse.  In my spare time I love spending time outdoors with my family, cooking, exercising and traveling.

Blanche Skubic, Certified Nurse Midwife

Blanche Skubic, Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM)

I have been working for the past year as an on-call Certified Nurse Midwife at The Birth Center.  I love working in a real free standing birthcenter and being able to really practice the "art" of midwifery.  

Bethany Sasaki, Registered Nurse

Bethany Sasaki, Registered Nurse

I began working as an RN, in Boston, in 2000. In 2002 I earned a BSN from Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.  My nursing career includes inpatient pediatrics at Franciscan Children’s Hospital, community and women’s health at Planned Parenthood, adolescent HIV clinical research at UCSF, ER/Trauma at San Francisco General Hospital and UC Davis Medical Center, and briefly in labor and delivery. Being a fierce supporter of the midwifery model of care, I began attending births at The Birth Center in 2007. In 2010 I became an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) and now work both privately as well as in the hospital. My husband Brent and I live in Sacramento with our two small children, Leo and Piper, who are both happy clients of the Birth Center.  While primarily a stay-at-home mom now, I plan to pursue a Master’s in Nursing, while I continue to build my private lactation consulting practice, and work at The Birth Center whenever I can.

Kylee Cook, Doula

Kylee Cook, Doula

I am the mother of two children both of which were born at home while we lived in Colorado.  It was that experience of my own two labors and births that stirred my interest in working with expectant mothers and their families.  It was after my children were born that I attended ALACE training to become a doula.  

We moved to California ten years ago and since then I have earned a MA in English/Creative Writing from CSU Sacramento.  But my interest in birth continued.   I had the opportunity to begin attending births at The Birth Center in 2010.  Since then I try and attend births when called on whenever my family life and work life at UC Davis MIND Institute allows.

Natalie Miller, Doula

Natalie Miller, Doula

My passion in birth started immediately following the birth of my son.  I realized after months of prenatal yoga, hypnobirthing and childbirth classes, I was still not fully prepared for the 36 hours of labor that followed.  Although my son was born healthy and strong there were many times I felt helpless and unsupported by staff within my hospital setting.  Within months of his birth, I was trained as a doula and certified through DONA and working at The Birth Center, hoping to help other women achieve their ideal birth.

Working at The Birth Center has shown me just how natural the birthing process is.  I have met the most amazing families and have experienced how peaceful and successful, low intervention births can be.  I have learned so much from the fantastic team at The Birth Center and feel a sense of gratitude after each birth I attend.

When not working at The Birth Center, I work as a doula for private clients in hospital settings.  Prior to my work at The Birth Center I received an MPA from San Franscisco State University and worked for various non-profits throughout California and Oregon.  I currently live in Fair Oaks with my husband and son.  I love to travel and see live music in my free time.

Larissa Barth-Dost, Cleaning Specialist

Larissa Barth-Dost, Birth Center Cleaning Specialist 

I grew up in Fair Oaks and married in 2006.  Not long after our wedding I found myself pregnant.  I knew I didn't want to go to a hospital for the birth of my first child.  So I started looking and found The Birth Center.  My first baby was born in 2007 at The Birth Center and it was a wonderful experience.  Since then I've been telling anyone who will listen about The Birth Center and the quality of care offered to women and their families.  My second child was born in the birth tub calming waters at The Birth Center in 2010.  

I have been keeping the center clean and ready for birth since 2011 and additionally helping my husband run our own family business.

Jackie Belau, Doula

Jackie Belau, Doula

I learned about doulas while studying for an Early Childhood Education degree; I soon found my passion in birth. I was trained as a doula in 2005 and have been practicing privately since then. I'm very involved with the local birth community and run Better Birth Sacramento, a community group and website for expecting parents informing them of their birth options. Also known as the Maternity Maven, my involvement with the local birth community allows me to assist parents as a baby planner. I also work as an Office Manager and attend births at The Birth Center when I can.