MEET YOUR BIRTH TEAM
Maya Bence, LM
Maya is a Jacksonville native who has been a birth worker for over 9 years. She has been enchanted by home birth ever since witnessing the birth of her precious niece in 2015. After witnessing her sister's powerful unmedicated birth with a midwife, she applied to midwifery school and began her training just 4 months afterwards. She graduated from The Florida School of Traditional Midwifery in 2019 after serving many families throughout the state of Florida. After working in a busy birth center during her first year of licensure, Maya fulfilled her dream of opening an intimate home birth practice with her business partner and friend Mandi. In 2020 Modern Midwives was born, allowing Maya the privilege of caring for families in their homes as they bring their babies to the world. Currently Maya lives on her property on the north side of Jax with her partner Chris, their two dogs and their beautiful son, Damian. In her free time Maya enjoys cooking, baking bread, gardening, and spending time with her large & loud family. Her biggest achievement to date is giving birth to her son in her home with Mandi as her midwife. Maya's goal as a midwife is to treat each woman with the same love and compassion she would give to her own sister. She has a deep passion for undisturbed birth & believes that every mother and baby should feel loved & listened to as they walk through the portal of pregnancy and birth.
Mandi West, LM
Mandi was born and raised in a small town in Florida where she raised chickens, goats, horses and many other animals and plants with her family; all while having a life-long fascination with pregnancy, birth and the feminine physiology. In 2012, Mandi became pregnant with her first child at the tender age of 17 where she found herself under the care of a midwife for the first time. It was soon after this birth that she realized her passion for women's advocacy and midwifery, and as a teenager began attending births, preparing to attend midwifery school, and went on to have a beautiful home birth of her own. After graduating from the Florida School of Traditional Midwifery, Mandi moved to Duval county with her two sons to serve families of the First Coast whom she lovingly cared for throughout her time as a student midwife. Today, she lives in Atlantic beach with her sons Brandt and Grey, and her boyfriend Brandon. Her favorite things to do are camping, adventuring and road-tripping with her kids, cooking and baking, spending lots of time at the beach, and is a hobbyist fossil and shark tooth collector. Mandi cares deeply about informed consent, unconditional positive regard, and encouraging the power to remain with her clients through body autonomy and a hands-off approach.
Malu Critchley, LM
Home birth has always been a familiar concept to Malu since her mother had her and her four siblings at home in Miami. Midwifery was an interest while in high school and after being gifted Spiritual Midwifery the goal of becoming a midwife was set for Malu. Being able to attend births while in midwifery school made her confident that supporting women and families in the birth space was her life’s work. During her training she was able to work at a busy birth center. This allowed her to see many births as well as work with different midwives to learn a variety of practicing styles which helped develop how she practices today. Through witnessing many births she has come to see how important it is to step back and follow the lead of the woman in labor, holding space for her and letting her tune in to her intuition. She believes in supporting women throughout pregnancy while offering education and guidance along the way. Her goal is to create a safe, supportive, and empowering environment surrounding pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. She believes that birth is the most natural part of life and feels honored to have been invited into such intimate spaces with growing families.
Virginia Disch, LM
Virginia was born and raised in Neptune Beach, Florida but also spent many years living in Illinois where she later graduated with her Bachelors Degree in Health Science. She has always cared deeply about women’s health and knew early on she wanted to work in health care. In 2019 she attended the birth of her niece at a local birth center. This experience led her to her passion for birth and soon after she began her journey to midwifery. For the past four years Virginia has been attending births both at home and in birth centers across Jacksonville, learning from several of our community’s midwives. She has grown a passion for providing personal, compassionate, and loving care to all her patients. Virginia lives in her childhood home in Neptune beach with her cat, Dracula. In her free time she enjoys going to the beach, drinking tea, and spending time with family. She is excited to continue to support women and families through these special moments and to be able to do it in the place she calls home.
Courtney Lay, RN, Birth Assistant
Courtney is a Jacksonville native and a birth assistant at Modern Midwives. She has always had a passion for helping others and attained her Registered Nursing license in hopes to do so in her community. Courtney is an advocate for patient-centered care and believes everyone deserves a calm, wholesome approach when tending to their health. As she witnessed natural birth and the world it encompasses, her passion in women’s health and support continued to grow. She began encapsulating placentas in 2020, became a birth assistant shortly after, and began helping to lead pregnancy support groups in the Modern Midwives office. Courtney is grateful to serve our birth community in so many ways. Courtney's goal as a birth worker is to care for each family with love and intention as they walk through their birth journey.
Haley Gagnon, Office Manager
A proud Jacksonville native and mom of two, Haley is the warm, welcoming face behind the front desk. She’s a self-proclaimed “Domestic Engineer” and do-er of all the things. Haley’s connection to Modern runs deep- she first met midwives Maya and Mandi as students during her first birth, and later welcomed her second baby with us. Now, in a beautiful full-circle moment, she’s stepping into this space on the other side of the phone.
Haley has always had a heart for caring for others and a deep respect for the sacredness of birth and womanhood. She’s passionate about supporting women in every season of life, and her empathy, humor, and organizational magic make her such a perfect fit for our team. When she’s not managing all the things, you’ll find her being silly with her family, reading a good book, fishing, or soaking up the Florida sunshine at the beach. Her light hearted energy and nurturing spirit make everyone who walks through our doors feel right at home.
Annamaria Pellegrino, Student Midwife
​Annamaria Pellegrino is a midwifery student at CCSM with a deep passion for supporting women through pregnancy and birth. Originally from Southwest Florida, she earned her B.A. in Psychology from FGCU before moving to Jacksonville in 2018, where she now lives with her husband, Hank, and their three children—all of whom were born at home.
Annamaria’s own transformative birth experiences ignited her calling to midwifery, inspiring her to give back the same positivity and empowerment she received. She is dedicated to helping women trust their innate strength and wisdom throughout pregnancy, birth, and beyond. Her approach to midwifery is rooted in respect, compassion, and honoring each mother’s unique choices.
Outside of birth work, Annamaria loves spending time at the beach, creating arts and crafts with her kids, and making memories with family and friends. She is deeply honored to be part of the Modern Midwives family—especially since her journey has come full circle. Fun fact: Mandi was a student at Annamaria’s first birth and later became her midwife for her third!
Lizzy Pahs, Student Midwife
Elizabeth “Lizzy” Pahs is a senior midwifery student at The Florida School of Traditional Midwifery (FSTM) who grew up “crunchy” and followed that passion and tradition into midwifery. Lizzy likes to say she isn’t from anywhere—she’s from everywhere, having grown up all over the world as a military kid.
In 2023, she moved to Jacksonville to attend FSTM and immerse herself in the birth world. Lizzy has a strong background in healthcare, with experience as a volunteer EMS provider in New York and New Jersey, and currently works as an Emergency Department technician at UF Health Jacksonville, Northeast Florida’s only Level 1 Trauma Center. These experiences have given her a unique perspective on both emergency and holistic care, and the importance of both sides of the team when it comes to helping mamas deliver their babies.
Lizzy is deeply passionate about homebirth and the midwifery model of care, and loves helping families welcome little ones in the comfort of their own homes. When she isn’t catching babies, Lizzy is often found trying to keep up with a basket of knitting, attempting to learn to surf, rock climbing (poorly), or sitting and reading with her polydactyl cat Henny. Lizzy is ecstatic to be a part of the Modern Midwives team for a little while as she finishes her last year of midwifery school.
Olivia Martinez, Community & Content Manager
Olivia is a Jax beach local who has been in birth work since 2017, serving women in our community as a birth doula and placenta encapsulator. She hosts our weekly pregnancy and postpartum support groups, and manages the Moden Midwives social media. Olivia has always had a passion for all things relating to birth and babies, and found her calling in the birth world at the young age of 18! Since then, she has attended births both in and out of hospitals around Jacksonville. It wasn’t until the birth of her first daughter, Esme, in 2019 that she fell in love with homebirth. She then went on to have her second daughter, Azalea, with us here at Modern Midwives. Olivia has become a homebirth advocate empowering families one by one to feel confident and safe in their birthing decisions. Olivia’s goal is to make sure every family she comes in contact with feels supported and loved during every step on their journey in motherhood.
