Meet the Family Midwifery Team
At Family Midwifery, Our Team consists of Gengï, Jenna, Hailey & Kaitlyn. We engage a full Team Approach to your care, which means that we collaborate throughout the journey we are taking with you. In your appointments, you will often be meeting with more than one of us at the same time. This makes it possible for you to get to know each of us as more than just a familiar face. It also allows for a greater opportunity for the benefits of continuity of care, and rounds out your experience with the special insights from our many unique perspectives.
Gengï G. Proteau
Certified Professional Midwife & Owner
I became a member of the homebirth community in 1994, when I had my first homebirth. Following a series of spiritual experiences, I felt called to become a midwife, and started on the path to serving families during pregnancy and childbirth and postpartum. By 2000, I was ready to help families as a childbirth educator and labor doula, and became a midwifery apprentice in 2004. In 2007, I started attending the Midwives College of Utah and gained my clinical experience through working with several homebirth practices in Connecticut. Being the mother of five fabulous (but not perfect!) children has rounded out my education in helping families prepare for childbirth, and guiding women to embrace motherhood.
I live in Deep River, Connecticut, and enjoy hiking, art of all kinds (artisan, textile, culinary, visual, performance, music), creating, singing and gardening. I love learning about different cultures and various walks of life, and am particularly keen on understanding the role of faith and spirituality in personal health and family life.
Hailey Santelli
Assistant Midwife
Certified Nurse Assistant
Hi Sweet Families! My name is Hailey. I am a birth assistant and advanced student here at Family Midwifery. After working a short stint as a CNA in a more traditional hospital setting, I began training as a doula and childbirth educator. I knew instantly supporting families during the birth of their children was where my heart needed to be. I am driven by the emotional aspect of birth and the growth often discovered on the other side. I have been with the practice for three years and am in my second year of a degree program at the Midwives College of Utah and I will graduate as a Certified Professional Midwife.
With the incredible support, patience, and love of my husband, Wes, we are raising our three young children here in the northeast corner of Connecticut. Our quiet community allows for a simple life of homeschooling, tending to our chickens, and creating a plethora of sourdough bread where we fill not only our plates, but our hearts. I am honored by the invitation into your birth space and excited to build connections with you and your family over the next year.
Jenna Bourgeois
Certified Nurse Midwife
Nurse Practitioner
Certified Lactation Consultant
Hi, I’m Jenna. I am a Certified Nurse Midwife, Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner, Certified Breastfeeding Counselor and former experienced Certified Wholistic Doula. I graduated with honors from the midwifery program at the Yale School of Nursing where I received my Master of Science in Nursing with a Concentration in Global Health.
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My midwifery education is ever deepening as I apply my skills in the home setting and work side by side with the team at Family Midwifery. Prior to school, I lived in Brooklyn where I served the NYC area for the better part of a decade as a wholistic doula, childbirth educator, lactation consultant, instructor of infant CPR, and facilitator of a new parent support group. Feeling drawn to midwifery, I also attended a 3 month Introduction to Midwifery program in Bali.
I first came to Family Midwifery as a pregnant mama, looking for a homebirth midwife for my second pregnancy, and was blown away by the quality and wholistic nature of the care. I have 3 beautiful young children (all of whom were born at home) and a wonderful and supportive husband. We recently moved from New Haven to Wallingford, and although we miss the joys of city-living, we are now delighting in our our new home, cooking more, living close to family, and surrounded by trees and beauty.
I feel intense gratitude to be able to provide midwifery care in the home setting and specifically to be a part of the Family Midwifery Team.
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My interest in midwifery began with feeling powerfully drawn towards the major transitional moments of birth and death, when the veil is at its thinnest. Upon learning midwifery indeed existed in the modern day I felt an immediate magnetic pull. As an initial reality check to my idealistic notion, I became a wholistic doula attending births in both the home setting as well as the hospital. I quickly learned what a great need there was to walk with women (& birthing people) through the vulnerable and powerful process of pregnancy and childbirth and found the process to be deeply meaningful. Like many, I was shocked by the statistical outcomes in America, before even learning about the even more horrific outcomes for BIPOC folks, and I am honored to be working in this sacred and urgently needed vocation.
Kaitlyn Reed
Office Assistant & Certified Doula
Warm greetings!
My name is Kaitlyn, and I am Family Midwifery's Office Assistant.
My passion for the sacredness of motherhood and the journey through pregnancy, birth, and postpartum led me to become a Certified Birth & Postpartum Doula shortly after having my own two children at home. I have a Bachelor’s degree in Education and prior to becoming a doula, I spent a decade professionally teaching, where I spent my time educating and caring for children and their families. It’s my desire to continue supporting and loving on families as they engage in this beautiful journey.
I feel incredibly blessed to be part of this team and to connect with the wonderful families looking for holistic and natural-minded care.