Neelu Shruti

Neelu is a Certified Nurse-Midwife, Registered Nurse, Yoga expert specializing in Fertility, Prenatal, Postnatal and Baby & Me Yoga, a Full-Spectrum Doula, Childbirth Educator and Breastfeeding Counselor based in New York City.

Neelu was fortunate to be introduced to yoga at a young age while attending Rishi Valley, a boarding school in India founded by the philosopher J. Krishnamurti.  Neelu moved to the U.S. in 2003 pursuing a degree in architecture from The University of Texas at Austin and moved to NYC in 2007 to work in the field. After working at several high profile firms and only practicing and teaching yoga on the side, in 2015, seeing the impact she was having as a prenatal & postnatal yoga teacher and doula she quit her day job as an architect and founded Love Child and has never looked back. 

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I always thought that when you were pregnant, you sat back on the couch, took it easy, ate for two and somehow somewhere a doctor would deliver your baby. It wasn't until I went in to observe a Prenatal Yoga class during my yoga teacher training when I was blown away. I had never seen pregnant people, in their third trimester, moving, sweating and working. Immediately the parallel between prenatal yoga and birth became clear to me. You wouldn't show up to a marathon without training, so why not the same for birth. 

I dove in and completed my Prenatal Yoga teacher training, taught prenatal yoga but it wasn't until my yoga clients asked me to be present at their birth that I took on the role of a doula. It's such an honor to be asked to be present at such a special time, I couldn't refuse even though it means being ready to go and cancel everything at the drop of a hat. 

Up until 2015, I worked as an architect in New York City. When I noticed that my work in the birth field was much more rewarding, I left the corporate world to create Love Child, a space that strives to be your touchstone for support through your reproductive journey. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, seeing the lack of options for out of hospital birth in NY, I started my journey to become a midwife so that in the future Love Child can offer medical services and grow into a birth center.

I completed RN training from Yale University and my Masters in Midwifery from Thomas Jefferson University with clinical residencies at Central Park Midwifery in NYC, The Sanctum Birth Center in Hyderabad (my hometown) and with HerCare in St. Croix.

As I continue to work toward a goal of opening a birth center, I’m thrilled to be offering full-spectrum clinical midwifery care including preconception, gyn, prenatal, postpartum and breastfeeding visits in office, at home and virtually.

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QUALIFICATIONS

• Certified Nurse-Midwife, Masters in Midwifery, Thomas Jefferson University

• Registered Nurse, Certificate in Nursing, Yale University

• Basic Life Safety, American Heart Association

• Neonatal Resuscitation Provider, American Academy of Pediatrics and American Heart Association. 

• AWHONN Intermediate Fetal Monitoring Certification

• Limited Obstetric Ultrasound Certification, Thomas Jefferson University

• Holding Space for Pregnancy Loss Training

• Yoga Alliance 500 Hour E-RYT, RPYT 

• DONA Trained Doula

• Doula Project Trained Full Spectrum Doula

• Certified in Spinning Babies Techniques

• Certified Breastfeeding Counselor

• Midwifery Assistant, The Farm, Tennessee