APPPAH Board of Directors

Board President: Raylene Phillips, MD, MA, FAAP, FABM, IBCLC 

Raylene Phillips is a neonatologist with a passion for the wellbeing of babies. After raising three children as a stay-at-home mother, she received a master’s degree in Developmental Psychology, became NIDCAP certified as an Infant Developmental Specialist, and then attended medical school at University of California, Davis, graduating in 2004.  Dr. Phillips completed her pediatric residency and neonatology fellowship at Loma Linda University Children's Hospital in Loma Linda, CA and is currently an attending neonatologist in the NICU at the same hospital as well as Medical Director of Newborn Nursery at Loma Linda University Medical Center-Murrieta. Raylene is an International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) and is a Fellow of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine.  Her primary area of interest is supporting emotional connections between babies and their parents. Raylene Phillips lives in Redlands, CA.

Board Vice President, Outreach & Development: Lynn Korst, BS, PPNE

Lynn Korst, is a parent educator for pregnant couples and new parents in her private practice Discover Parenthood. Lynn is a graduate of APPPAH’s Prenatal and Perinatal Educator Certification Program and is also a graduate of the Castellino Prenatal and Birth Therapy Foundation Training. She is a certified NARM (NeuroAffective Relational Model) practitioner that supports transforming and integrating early developmental trauma.  She is also trained in Attachment Science, Play Therapy, RIE (Resources for Infant Educators) and is a trained “Bringing Baby Home” facilitator.  Prior to finding this passion, she had a 20-year career as a Sales and Marketing Manager at IBM. Lynn Korst lives in Chicago, IL.

Board Vice President of Education and Programs: Carol McLellan, CMT, CST-D, CD

Carol McLellan has a 35-year background in health education and bodywork - over 30 of which have focused on CranioSacral Therapy (CST). She is a CST Instructor for The Upledger Institute International, teaching nationally and internationally. Carol was invited by Dr. Upledger to develop the curriculum for CST for Conception, Pregnancy and Birth, of which she is Ombudsman. She is also Co-Ombudsman for CST for Pediatrics. She has helped facilitate the BioAquatic Discoveries for Pediatrics.  Utilizing her background as a doula, doula educator and a childbirth educator, she has taught CST in hospitals and multiple medical facilities, including the American College of Midwives National conference, and has treated thousands of pregnant mothers and babies.  She also served for 13 years on the Board of Governors of San Joaquin Valley College, and their curriculum oversight committee. Carol McLellan lives in Visalia, CA.

Board Secretary: Barbara Hotelling, MSN, FACCE, AdvCD (DONA), CHT

Barbara Hotelling is a Clinical Nurse Educator in Maternal Child Health in the Accelerated BSN program at Duke University School of Nursing in Durham, NC. She also teaches in the Center for Nursing Discovery’s simulations lab, is an Advisor for the Women’s Health Organization, teaches in the Community Health course and trains birth doulas.  Barbara has an MSN in Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner, is certification as a Certified HUG Trainer (H.U.G. Your Baby) and is an IBCLC, certified Lactation Consultant. She is also a Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator, DONA Certified Birth Doula, and has been a volunteer in teen parenting programs in Pontiac, Michigan.  She has served as President of DONA (1995-1997), Chair of the Coalition for Improving Maternity Services (2000-2002), and President of Lamaze International (2002-2004).  Barbara Hotelling lives in Duram, NC.

Board Chief Financial Officer: Zachary Tucker, MPS, CFRE

Zachary Tucker has fostered a respected career in advocacy, marketing, community engagement, and fundraising for nearly three decades.  Zack is a Certified Fund Raising Executive and a graduate of the Inland Empire Economic Partnership Regional Leadership Through a variety of positions with non-profit organization, Zack has promoted strong teamwork and spearheaded creative marketing programs, which are the essential core for moving strategic plans forward and for effecting positive growth.  Zachary Tucker lives in Redlands, CA.

Board Member: Peg Bledsoe, OTD, OTR/L, FAOTA, BPC

Peg Bledsoe has been an Occupational Therapist for over 40 years. She has received a Doctorate in Occupational Therapy with a specialty in pediatrics in 2018.  In addition to her OT degrees, she has a master’s degree in Psychology for Human Relations and Supervision.  She has completed studies in CranioSacral Therapy and Myofasical Release and also trained under Ray Castellino (2-year course), William Emerson (2-year course), as well as NeuroIntegrative System (20 year-Master Level) and various OT treatment techniques.  Dr. Bledsoe has been involved with playing music during therapy since 1992 with extensive training in music program as SOMAS, “Listening with the Whole Body” and other music program classes, which enriched her understanding of how music facilities brain development and the release of trauma.  Dr. Bledsoe has been a member of APPPAH since 1985.  Peg Bledsoe lives in Palmdale, CA.

Board Member: Barbara Decker, PPNE, MHBCE, CLD, Certified Prenatal Bonding (BA) Facilitator

Barbara Decker is a Master HypnoBirthing Practitioner, been a childbirth educator for almost 50 years, CLD and Advisor Prenatal Pregnancy for CAPPA, one of 12 Prenatal Bonding (BA) Facilitators in the US, and a mentor and graduate of the APPPAH PPNE program She is passionate about the need to teach parents about Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology. She has developed a preconception/early pregnancy class (www.empoweringpregnancy.com) to share the importance of welcoming babies and how to have a healthy gestational period by teaching techniques on how to lower the stressors placed on our pregnant women.  Barbara Decker, is a mother, grandmother, great grandmother, and lives in Edmonds, WA.

Board Member: Lisa Rafel

Lisa Rafel is a “sound healing” educator, songwriter and singer who creates plays, spoken word videos and music recordings. Lisa is co-creator of the award-winning book/music set, Safe in the Arms of Love: Deepening the Essential Bond with Your Baby and founder of Resonant Sounds, LLC, creating music, books and products that support heartfelt connection between parents and their babies. An internationally recognized transformative teacher, performer and expert in Vocal Sound healing™, Lisa presents internationally on the use of sound as a tool for health and healing. Her innovative workshops focus on self-healing techniques using modern scientific principles and practices from ancient and indigenous cultures. Lisa Rafel lives in Oakland, CA

Board Member: Zsuzsanna Liptakne Horvath, MA

Zsuzsanna Liptakne Horvath has a master’s degrees in Hungarian and English literature and perinatal counselling. Her thesis for perinatal consultancy was "Early bonding related medical practice, laws, protocols, civil initiatives and their interactions in Hungary after 1990." She is the Vice President of the Hungarian Society for Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology and Medicine and is the head organizer of the Hungarian perinatal annual congresses.  She worked for a decade at the Copenhagen Consensus Center think tank doing international aid-related macroeconomic research.  Zsuzsanna lives in Budapest, Hungary.

Board Member: Ellynne Skove, MA, LCAT, NCC,
BC-DMT, PPNE, CBC, E-RYT

Ellynne Skove is a New York state licensed Creative Arts therapist, nationally certified counselor, Board Certified dance therapist, yoga teacher, and Polarity therapist. In 2010 Ellynne completed additional graduate studies in Pre and Peri Natal Psychology at The Santa Barbara Graduate Institute. Additionally she is a PPNE and mentor.

APPPAH Staff

Executive Director: Catherine Lightfoot, CPM

Catherine Lightfoot Martin holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology with a focus on Child Development and is a Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) with the North American Registry of Midwives. She has also studied yoga and personal spiritual development at a small spiritual school in southern India. Catherine believes that birth is a sacred passage for an emerging conscious being, and mutual respect for all involved is a basic human right. She is most passionate about unveiling awareness of prenatal and perinatal consciousness because peace on Earth begins before birth.  Catherine homesteads in the Missouri Heartland with her supportive family and can often be found walking barefoot in the creek.

Education & Programs Director: Christianna Deichmann,RCST®, PPNE, LMT, Inner Child Process Practitioner

Christianna Deichmann integrates craniosacral therapy, massage, and prenatal and perinatal psychology into her psychosomatic therapy practice based in Charlottesville, Virginia and online. Her work embraces today’s movement towards Consciousness and the merging of science and spirituality. She comes to APPPAH to continue growing the education team and program offerings. Her own experiences birthing her two children sparked her interest in educating parents and professionals about birth psychology and how the earliest experiences in life are so foundational to defining human potential. Her undergraduate studies in biology and ADHD in the Behavioral Medicine department at UVA Med School coupled with her personal experience with behavioral disorders, suffering, and the quest for health led her to pursue the energetic healing arts in service to humanity. She strives to make it easier for people to navigate the invisible realms of their nervous system, psyche, and soul, so they can make decisions that will drive connection to themselves and the world.

 

Outreach & Communications Director: Wendy Bruns, BA

Wendy Bruns holds a BA in Anthropology from University of California, Santa Cruz.  She is a birthworker with a passion for empowering women during their birth journey, and making sure bodily autonomy and informed consent is always at the forefront of every decision. Wendy loves learning about holistic and non-toxic living, especially incorporating it in everyday life. In the future, Wendy hopes to become a CPM and continue encouraging women to have births they feel emboldened by. She is thrilled to support APPPAH as the Marketing Assistant and looks forward to creating growth in the birth community with APPPAH’s mission.  Wendy lives in Sacramento, California with her dogs, Stella and Hayze.

Programs & Digital Design Assistant: Stephanie Duran de Rodriguez

Stephanie Duran de Rodriguez is Latinx Indigenous El Pasoan Native, mother of six children from 18 to 4 years old. She has the honor to educate and support BIPOC families national wide through Pre-pregnancy, childbirth, and pregnancy & infant loss as a Full Spectrum Women’s Coach, Student Midwife, and Grief & Trauma Coach.  She is the founder of Radical Rebel Midwife Podcast-Blog and the owner of Latinx Women’s Health.