Best Resources for New Parents in Jersey City-Hoboken
We know that being pregnant, having a baby, and being a parent can be tough. It’s hard to know what to do or where to go. That’s why we made a big guide with lots of helpful information for you and your family. In our guide, you can find great doulas or midwives, people who can help with health and wellness, and groups for parents. Keep reading to see our list of best resources for new parents in Jersey City and Hoboken.
Are you looking for different options from usual hospital care for childbirth? Doulas and midwives are more and more common options. Here’s a list of such helpers in your area.
DOULAS AND MIDWIVES
Two Doulas & You
Colleen Goidel is a retired labor doula CAPPA-certified in childbirth and postpartum education. She offers virtual and in-person services for expectant parents, including childbirth, lactation, and newborn care classes.
Hoboken Doulas
Hoboken Doulas provides non-medical birth and postpartum care, childbirth classes, and prenatal yoga classes. They serve families throughout Hudson County and the greater Northern New Jersey metropolitan area.
JC Bump and Baby
Michelle Goita offers prenatal and postpartum yoga classes, well-care workshops, and general birthing support. Michelle loves helping mothers connect with their babies, offering a full spectrum of care before, during, and after pregnancy.
Mamarama
Jayne Freeman has run Mamarama, a perinatal provider serving new and expecting families in the Jersey City area, since 2012. Jayne is a CEA/MNY-certified childbirth educator, breastfeeding counselor, and postpartum doula, providing a variety of group and private childbirth classes.
Tapestry Birth Collective
TBC is run by a collective of birth professionals, including Marci Mathew, Cara Birnbaum Harmon, and Lisa Schillo Acevedo. It provides education and support through pregnancy, birth, and early parenting. Services include childbirth education, birth and postpartum doula care, breastfeeding support, and other workshops and services to help women and their loved ones build a support system and enter parenthood confidently.
The Midwives of New Jersey
Providing professional care for anticipating and new mothers in Hoboken, Madison, and Hackettstown, The Midwives of New Jersey believe birth should be an empowering experience, whether in the hospital or at home. As a client-focused practice, it goes above and beyond to answer questions and provide social support; they assist you with the first breastfeeding and will check in postpartum with phone calls and/or home visits.
Seeds to Mums
Seeds to Mums offers practical, evidence-based childbirth education classes to prepare parents for pregnancy, labor, delivery, and postpartum. Courses are designed to provide information taught in a welcoming, interactive, and comforting environment. The childbirth education class is taught by a clinician with many years of experience in obstetrics, including infertility and delivery/labor. Offering weekend virtual classes and private in-home courses, in-person classes will be available soon.
Looking for ways to get exercise and move your body during pregnancy? Check out these prenatal yoga classes and massage therapists.
PRENATAL YOGA CLASSES
Yoga Shunya
Yoga Shunya is located in downtown Jersey City at the historic Majestic Theatre. They offer a wide range of courses, including prenatal classes.
JC Bump and Baby
JC Bump and Baby offers a variety of fun and informative activities and classes for moms and babies. It connects moms through support groups, yoga classes, and workshops, runs a private Facebook support group, and promises to give guidance to women in every stage of motherhood.
Yoga Renew
Mélie Purdon, Rachel Fisher, Ellie Cheung, and Nikki Poveromo have dedicated much of their yoga career to fostering a Prenatal practice. With years of experience, they have each brought unique vibes to the most wholesome Prenatal Yoga practice in Hoboken.
Surya Yoga
Surya Yoga in Jersey City hosts prenatal yoga classes for soon-to-be moms. Their classes are designed to help you deal with physical and hormonal changes in your body while mentally and physically preparing you for labor. With experienced teachers, they will help you alleviate backaches, sciatic pain, and indigestion, improving circulation and strengthening pelvic and uterus muscles.
MASSAGES
META Bodywork
META Bodywork is a wellness sanctuary where holistic wellness and modern science meet to address modern aches and pains (hello, text neck). They use massage modalities backed by science to help you through pregnancy, postpartum, and beyond. Additionally, the bodywork team draws on various modalities to open, balance & align your body.
Salvation Wellness
At Salvation Wellness, each massage is tailored to meet your specific bodywork goals and preferences. They offer prenatal massages to target pregnancy aches, pains, and inflammation.
Body Balance Hoboken
Body Balance offers a range of professional and relaxing spa services, including prenatal massage and custom massage, that are designed to provide relief and relaxation from everyday stresses and tension.
Searching for a healthcare specialist to assist with pregnancy or parenting? Our list includes lactation consultants, physical therapists, sleep trainers, feeding specialists, acupuncturists, pelvic therapists, gynecologists, and speech therapists ready to support you throughout your pregnancy journey.
LACTATION CONSULTANTS
Feedings and Feelings
Meg Manangón is a registered nurse and International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) with over ten years of experience working with growing families. She provides holistic, family-centered support to make breastfeeding a spiritual bonding experience. Also, she provides prenatal classes and postpartum support in-home or virtually, including expert pumping, combo, and formula-feeding consults. You can reach her via text at 201-855-6811.
Carmen Baker-Clark
Carmen Baker-Clark helps teach mothers how to breastfeed as the manager of lactation services at Hoboken University Medical Center. Connect with her at 201-214-7222.
Jennifer Lisimachio
Jennifer Lisimachio is an IBCLC and former Mahala Lactation and Perinatal Services partner. She also is an accredited La Leche League leader. Call her at 917-312-5700.
Milk Body Soul
Milk Body Soul combines the skills and expertise of an IBCLC with a nurse practitioner to offer you the most holistic approach during your breastfeeding and lactation journey. It provides in-home holistic lactation services and classes for parents, caregivers, and health care professionals. Reach them at 215-200-9200.
FEEDING SPECIALIST
Dr. Alyssa Kane, MS CCC-SLP, IBCLC
Dr. Alyssa Kane is a certified speech-language pathologist and IBCLC with over 10 years of experience. She and her team provide in-home speech and feeding evaluations and therapy throughout Jersey City, Hoboken, and Manhattan/Brooklyn. Her practice services infants through adolescents with various feeding/swallowing difficulties and speech delays. Alyssa also performs community and professional education workshops.
PHYSICAL THERAPISTS
First Light Therapy was established to provide pregnancy, postpartum, and early childhood mental health care. First Light Therapist specializes in maternal mental health, play therapy for children 3-9 years old, and parenting support. Together with a therapist, clients can expect to develop an individualized, goal focused plan to ensure both short term and long term changes and improvements!
Harborside Sports & Spine
Harborside Sport & Spine provides exceptional chiropractic and physical therapy services that can help you support your body’s health from the inside out. Whether you have suffered an injury or want to improve your mobility, they can offer services from physical therapy to acupuncture to help.
Little Movers
Elizabeth Morel offers physical therapy, specializing in pediatrics and pre-and post-natal care. Through various exercises and sessions, she helps to treat the physical “damage” to the pelvic floor caused by pregnancy and birth.
Liberty Physical Therapy
This is the town’s largest outpatient physical therapy facility, conveniently located in the heart of Jersey City. The state-of-the-art facility offers orthopedic, spine, sport, pelvic, vestibular, neuro, and pediatric therapy. Its pelvic floor services aim to help women strengthen the muscles, fascia, and ligaments post-pregnancy.
Exchange Physical Therapy Group
The Women’s Health Program at this practice aims to safely reduce pregnancy-related back pain. Its services are offered by trained physical therapists who specialize in helping women during pregnancy.
Push
Push is a prenatal and postnatal fitness and functional training company run by Emily Claman. The studio also has many virtual offerings so it is accessible to every woman, everywhere. Push is a space dedicated to women’s health, wellness and fitness.
SLEEP TRAINING
Miss Megan
Miss Megan is the founder of Mindful Montessori, Mantra Sleep Solutions, and The Miss Megan Effect. Her innovative approaches, including “conscious parenting” and gentle “non-cry-it-out sleep methods,” have been helping families in and around New York City for many years. Her expertise lies in sleep strategies, homeschooling guidance, parental coaching, and offering overnight support for families. She tailors plans specifically to meet the individual needs of parents.
Sleepy Mama
Nicole is a member of the Association of Professional Sleep Consultants who knows numerous methods that help families get more sleep. She provides a complimentary 15-minute phone consult for all her clients.
ACUPUNCTURE
Acuworx
Acuworx Acupuncture Studio is an acupuncture office providing services in Jersey City. It offers various acupuncture treatments that can help to relieve pain, improve sleep and energy, promote stress relief, and enhance mood.
Erin Kumpf Acupuncture & Herbs
It provides women in surrounding areas with prenatal and postnatal support through acupuncture. During pregnancy, it relieves tension, helps prevent miscarriage or premature labor, and even promotes labor when nearing expected delivery. Postpartum it helps improve sleep, regulates hormones, increases milk production, promotes healing of the body tissue, and reduces postpartum depression.
Acupuncture Center
NJ Acupuncture Center has served Jersey City and Bayonne since 2016. It offers treatments customized to each patient’s needs with postnatal and prenatal services.
PELVIC REHAB
Dr. Judith Meer, DPT
Judith Meer holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a doctorate in physical therapy, which helps her to provide collaborative and compassionate care. She treats women for pelvic floor and post-operative conditions, including post-prostatectomy, endometriosis, interstitial cystitis, prolapse, incontinence, and various pain conditions. She provides her patients with knowledge and tools to tackle any bowel, bladder, or sex-related problems they may be dealing with after delivery. She is also the only local practitioner who offers home visits to postpartum women living in Jersey City and Hoboken.
Pelvic Physical Therapy Rehabilitation
Pelvic PT Rehab specializes in pelvic floor therapy for bowel/bladder issues, pelvic pain, and sexual dysfunction, focusing on whole-body health for lasting relief. They emphasize preparation for childbirth and postpartum rehabilitation. With 15 years of experience, owner Jessica Swisher, PT, DPT, PRPC, a new mom, is keenly aware of the challenges faced during motherhood.
MEDICAL RESOURCES
Jersey City Medical Center
Jersey City Medical Center offers a full range of women’s health services to women of any age, from routine care to diagnostic procedures. At Jersey City Medical Center, their trusted multidisciplinary team of experts will help you prepare for each development from preconception to post-delivery. Every expectant mother is provided complete services, including current education on childbirth and infant care and comfortable and safe delivery. Their mother-baby unit features state-of-the-art technology in a soothing setting.
Hoboken University Medical Center
This award-winning center is deeply committed to meeting the health needs of its community with advanced medical technologies and state-of-the-art care. It has a 34-bay emergency room with a dedicated OB-GYN department, as well as private rooms in its family birth unit, specialty medicine for inpatient rehabilitation, transitional care, child and adult behavioral health services, women’s health services, wound care, orthopedics, robotic surgery, and other surgical subspecialties.
Palisades Medical Center
The physicians at Palisades Women’s Group evaluate, diagnose, and treat virtually any disorder or disease of the female reproductive system. They offer regular visits, exams, screenings, family planning guidance, and more. The practice believes in the importance of prenatal care to increase the chances of a healthy delivery.
Riverside Medical Group
This pediatric office’s main goal is to combine quality medical care with compassionate doctors for your family. From birth to college, its patient-focused personalized practice can provide you with a family primary care physician. Their pediatricians can help manage the physical, behavioral, and mental health of your child or adolescent. Riverside Medical Group also has OBGYN services and parental departments.
Infancy Studies Lab at Rutgers
The Infancy Studies Lab at Rutgers University-Newark is a nonprofit research facility focused on studying infant brain development, particularly prelinguistic language development in typically developing infants and those at risk of developmental disorders. For over 25 years, they have used child-friendly, play-based methods in their research. Currently, they are seeking infants up to 18 months old to participate in studies. Participants receive financial compensation, free parking, and complimentary behavioral assessments.
The Birth Injury Justice Center
The Birth Injury Justice Center is dedicated to supporting children and families affected by disabilities caused at birth. Erb’s palsy leaves a child with nerve damage. In many cases, it can be cured with proper treatment and care. It strives to provide answers and guidance to ensure that families receive the assistance they need to help improve their overall quality of life.
SPEECH THERAPIST
Baby Signs by Elaine Langsam
The Baby Signs Program helps children develop both language and cognitive skills, which is critical for hitting the stages of development.
INFERTILITY AND POSTPARTUM
Cultivate therapy practice that connects you to a specialist doing their best work with the kinds of clients they love to serve. We help individuals and couples navigate conflict, big life changes, family planning, grief, and other life stressors. We work with clients both in-person and virtually and would love to meet with you at our Jersey City location: 26 Journal Square Plaza, Ste 505.
Family Wellness Support Center at RCC
Family Wellness is dedicated to helping clients and couples navigate infertility, pregnancy challenges, and postpartum depression or anxiety. They are in-network with most insurances and have a team of therapists to help you. They will be opening for in-person soon at their new location at 349 3rd Street, Jersey City, NJ 07302. Until then, all sessions are conducted via Telehealth.
Looking to connect with parents near you? Below is a list of groups to join for support and resource recommendations.
SUPPORT GROUPS FOR PARENTS
JCFamilies Meetup Group
JCFamilies is a non-profit organization that connects over 25,000 local parents through various platforms, providing the local community with information, resources, and wholesome family events. JC Families is the largest and fastest-growing community of parents in Jersey City. Follow the JCFamilies meetup group if you want to know about the latest events, mommy meetups, and workshops for families in Jersey City.
Paulus Hook Mamas
Are you a new mom in Paulus Hook? Whether you’re new to the area or just looking to make new friends, this meetup group was created for mommies of babies and toddlers who want to connect. The group shares ideas for consistent play dates, holiday parties, family events, and mom-only events while helping to support the local businesses here in Paulus Hook and the greater Jersey City area.
Jersey City Moms
This is a Facebook support group for moms in the area.
Jersey City Mamas
This support group aims to create an accepting community of mothers looking to connect and empower one another. Motherhood is difficult; Jersey City Mamas wants to provide a safe space for you to figure it out with the support of each other. It shares local mom experiences, events, and other resources.
La Leche League
La Leche League International is a non-governmental, non-profit organization that advocates and provides educational resources about breastfeeding. It aims to provide mother-to-mother support, encouragement, information, and education, promoting a better understanding of breastfeeding as an essential element in the healthy development of the baby and its mother.
Looking to do a maternity photoshoot or take an updated family portrait with new ones in the picture? Below is a list of local photographers specializing in maternity and family portraits.
PHOTOGRAPHERS
Tanya Buran Photography
Since 2013, Tanya Buran Photography has captured cherished moments for Jersey City families, specializing in maternity, newborn, and family photos. Tanya offers sessions in clients’ homes, outdoors, or at her Jersey City studio, providing digital packages, prints, and heirloom products. As a mother herself, she views photography as a precious way to preserve family memories.
Shoott is a female-run startup offering photoshoots throughout Jersey City with vetted local professional photographers. They can capture any milestone, from maternity to engagement to family fun.
Photography by Eshoe
Eshoe is equipped to take on newborn, maternity, and family projects as a mother. She has a studio in town.
Newport Babies Photography
The Newport Babies Photography award-winning team offers services to families in Jersey City, Hoboken, and Manhattan. It aims to preserve your family and build its legacy through photography services.
Nicole Victoria Photography
Nicole Victoria Photography specializes in intimate motherhood sessions, serving Jersey City, Central NJ, and New York. Nicole offers in-home sessions for maternity, newborn, and various stages up to 12 months, as well as in-hospital Fresh 48 sessions and studio sessions. Her work emphasizes capturing the emotional and intimate aspects of motherhood.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Village Childcare Experts
They aim to help parents by connecting them with childcare experts for one-on-one, interactive video sessions. They will work together to build a practical toolkit for happy and emotionally healthy children.
Mindful Power LLC
Mindful Power LLC was established 14 years ago and offers Individual and Couples Therapy and Coaching for individuals aged 4 to 99. The team specializes in Maternal Mental Health, Parenting Coaching, and Infertility Counseling. Additionally, they provide a Postpartum Support Group and a Pregnancy Anxiety Support Group.
Jacquie Bird Spiritual Wellness
Jacquie Bird Spiritual Wellness provides products and services to support and empower individuals through stress relief, mindfulness, and personal growth. Jacquie, a sound healer and the creator of StressBusters Guided Meditation offers both private and group sessions.
Feather and Bone
Feather & Bone offers a line of 3-ingredient, 100% waterless, plant-based skincare products for mothers and babies. Inspired by Indian traditions and scientifically backed, our ingredients honor both Mother Earth and Mother India: they are plant-based, pure, and purposeful.
Nurturie provides comprehensive occupational therapy and tutoring services for pediatric and adolescent clients in home and community settings. Their OT services focus on fine and gross motor skills, visual-perceptual development, sensory processing, handwriting, and self-care skills. In addition, their tutoring services are designed to support executive functioning, writing, math, and test preparation. They offer a personalized and collaborative approach to enhance development and academic success.
Raising a child truly takes a village. JCFamilies is here to connect you with all the available resources for new and expecting parents in the area. If you have any recommendations, or if there’s anything else you need, we’d love to hear from you!
Updated Sep 19, 2024
