Hello I am Dr. Rachael and I love being a mama to my 5 children! My journey, as a mama, accelerated my passion to help women be excited rather than fearful of all aspects of motherhood.

I had my first baby almost 2 decades ago and I had no idea how to care for my body or my growing baby. I trusted in my care providers to help me through the process of being a growing mama. Surely they would help me learn how to nourish my body & help me in the delivery room?

However, a different story emerged. One that isn’t as beautiful as I had hoped. During labor, I remember lying on my side as the surges moved through my core and transferred throughout my body. The only relief I had was rubbing my head over and over with a washcloth to help ease the discomfort I was fearing would only get worse.

The contraction machine warned me of the surges before I would begin to feel them, which caused me a lot of fear. The only support that I had was my epidural, and the need to be coached to push on my back resulting in an episiotomy, and trauma to my girlie parts.

Several years later, after experiencing a natural birth, I saw this journey so differently that it became my passion. Pregnancy, birth, and postpartum looked completely different and empowering to me now, and I needed to prepare physically and mentally for each stage. Although there is an uncontrollable part to this journey, I had the skills and tools to prepare my body holistically. As a result, I went on to have my last three babes naturally and walked away with no symptoms or trauma, to (only…) minor soreness from birth. I felt so amazing that my Midwives had to caution me to rest more!

Using my experiences in motherhood and in my profession, I offer guidance, and solutions, to support women in caring for their bodies to feel clarity in the uncontrollable aspects of motherhood.

This approach enables my clients to make their holistic plan that helps them find confidence in the unknown, and to optimize their unique journey in motherhood.

Read more about my education and background.

Hello I am Dr. Rachael and I love being a mama to my 5 children! My journey, as a mama, accelerated my passion to help women be excited rather than fearful of all aspects of motherhood.

I had my first baby almost 2 decades ago and I had no idea how to care for my body or my growing baby. I trusted in my care providers to help me through the process of being a growing mama. Surely they would help me learn how to nourish my body & help me in the delivery room?

However, a different story emerged. One that isn’t as beautiful as I had hoped. During labor, I remember lying on my side as the surges moved through my core and transferred throughout my body. The only relief I had was rubbing my head over and over with a washcloth to help ease the discomfort I was fearing would only get worse.

The contraction machine warned me of the surges before I would begin to feel them, which caused me a lot of fear. The only support that I had was my epidural, and the need to be coached to push on my back resulting in an episiotomy, and trauma to my girlie parts.

Several years later, after experiencing a natural birth, I saw this journey so differently that it became my passion. Pregnancy, birth, and postpartum looked completely different and empowering to me now, and I needed to prepare physically and mentally for each stage. Although there is an uncontrollable part to this journey, I had the skills and tools to prepare my body holistically. As a result, I went on to have my last three babes naturally and walked away with no symptoms or trauma, to (only…) minor soreness from birth. I felt so amazing that my Midwives had to caution me to rest more!

Using my experiences in motherhood and in my profession, I offer guidance, and solutions, to support women in caring for their bodies to feel clarity in the uncontrollable aspects of motherhood.

This approach enables my clients to make their holistic plan that helps them find confidence in the unknown, and to optimize their unique journey in motherhood.

Read more about my education and background.

Hello! My name is Dr. Meagan Merlo. I am a mom to 3 wonderful children and wife to my Prince Charming. After the birth of my first child, I immediately fell in love with all things pregnancy and birth. I decided then that I wanted my career to involve working with moms and babies. After some poor choices due to poor guidance from providers in the early postpartum phase with my second child, I developed prolapses. Being a super active individual and wanting to do all the fun running, jumping, climbing and exploring things with my kids, I dove into all the postpartum and pregnancy education I could find. These classes and some amazing mentors helped me to completely change the way I view the body, not just the postpartum and pregnant body. I started seeing improvements way quicker not only in the postpartum and pelvic floor cases, but the babies and orthopedic cases as well. 

With the education and mentoring I received I was able to rehab myself to being completely asymptomatic. After my diagnosis we had decided we would not have more children for fear of worsening my prolapses, however, I gained the confidence through all my education to carry and deliver another child. I had learned so much about the body in delivery and prepared physically and mentally that it was the fastest and most beautiful delivery. 

Motherhood is the most beautiful journey, one full of so many ups and downs. I firmly believe that becoming a mother does not automatically mean you have to wear pads for trampoline jumping or refer to Dad for all the fun activities. My goal is to help you achieve all the goals you are looking to achieve whether it be a non-medicated birth, returning to running, playing hopscotch with your children, or simply being able to lift and carry your babies without pain or leaking. My goal is to empower you to care for yourself and your babies with confidence and grace. 

Read more about my education and background.

Hello! I am Dr. Erin Richards and I’m a mother of two wonderful and wild children. I love to travel, hike, cross stitch, and spend time with my family. My career in Physical Therapy began with a little advice from my father. Of course, I then looked at every other healthcare career before I had to admit he was right. Working with people and helping educate them on how best to move their bodies to avoid, or recover from, an injury has truly been a joy and privilege.

While my career focusing on women’s health began somewhat unexpectedly, it has since become my passion. Soon after I had my first born, my workplace conveniently held a training session on the pelvic floor. I learned so much about my own body in one session and it left me wondering why nobody had told me these things before! I have been fortunate to have had two uncomplicated pregnancies, both unmedicated while in a hospital setting. I was able to achieve this with the support of both my husband and a midwife.

After I had my second child, when I was about 18 months postpartum, we took a trip with lots of walking, lifting and carrying of babies/toddlers. I began to notice pelvic floor pain and heaviness that I had never experienced before. I thought I was in the safe zone, being so far out from birth, but I realized that I never took the time to properly strengthen myself for high levels of activity after my daughter’s birth. This encouraged me to continue my education, that I might use it to benefit myself and all of my future patients, through all stages of their postpartum journey. It is never too late to address issues like leakage, pelvic pain and heaviness – trust me, I know!

My career focus has shifted largely toward pregnant and postpartum care because my goal is to help women feel stronger and more comfortable in their postpartum bodies. The ‘bounce back’ is different for each person and I love hearing each mama’s unique birth story, while helping them work towards their individual goals.

Balancing work and home life as a mom has been challenging, but I have learned the importance of taking time for yourself, especially after having a baby. It is important to take time to heal and I love that I get to be part of the team to help support moms in this journey.

Read more about my education and background.

Hi! This is Michael and Emily – a husband & wife virtual services team!

We are so excited to support you in your journey with Dr. Rachael and her team. We absolutely love working in virtual services, as we are able to connect with clients, help build systems and business processes, and engage in our creative side with social media and other writing and design!

When we aren’t working, we are almost always outside – okay, maybe we also work outside sometimes!! We absolutely love traveling in our tiny camper with our pup, Murphy! In our free time, we will typically be found scouting flowers on a hiking path, breathing a little too hard up a mountain bike trail, or playing games!

If you have any questions or need additional support, we are your go-to team! We can’t wait to chat with you!

Office Manager, Client Liaison, and Virtual Assistant

Hi, my name is Alexa! I’m part of the virtual support team here at Dr. Rachael’s office!

I am a wife, toddler mom, and a passionate professional with over five years of experience in building physical therapist offices. I am extremely organized, creative, and a forward-thinking problem solver who loves creating the best experience for patients. My true passion lies in working with women, helping them feel their best!