Penny Merkel combines alternative medicine with traditional. She is a registered nurse with over 25 years (and over 2,000 couples) of childbirth education experience. She also brings her personal experience as a mother of two in a blended family of five children, and as a grandmother several times over.

Penny is a accredited Leclaire Hypnobirthing instructor, a certified Lamaze instructor and also a Lamaze Breastfeeding Support Specialist. In addition, Penny is also a senior childbirth instructor at Roosevelt Hospital. She's also the company nurse for Ogilvy, an advertising agency in Manhattan.