The International Maternity Institute ™ provides cutting edge, evidenced based educational programs, products and services for the maternity professional. Our educational continuum is designed to help today’s maternity professionals enhance their careers while empowering their clients to make informed decisions.
Launch your career in Maternity
At the International Maternity Institute, you’ll receive maternity education and business training through our online courses that will allow you to start a successful maternity practice as a baby planner, green birth educator, greenproofer, sleep consultant, and maternity stress management coach. We train you step-by-step to develop a practice or to apply your training to further your current career journey.
Learn from anywhere in the world
Since 2009, the International Maternity Institute has been at the forefront of maternity education, offering cutting-edge training and preparation. Our online learning format allows students from all over the world to experience our world-class training programs through our online maternity school and curriculum.
The Institute provides personalized training that enables students to develop a practice or utilize the education they receive to expand their current business offerings. The International Maternity Institute also hosts a variety of continuing education programs that are offered through their maternity affiliates.
As a subdivision of the International Maternity Institute ™, the International Academy of Baby Planner Professionals ™, a professional organization for those in the baby planning industry, leads and represents professional baby planners as well as set the standards for the Institute’s Baby Planner certifications and educational programming.
Our Mission
At the International Maternity Institute our mission is to inspire, support, and educate a global network of maternity professionals. It is the IMI’s desire to provide exceptional service to new and expecting parents through our eco-friendly initiatives, diverse educational programming, professional networking, and a commitment to professionalism.
The Institute is the educational body created by Mary Oscategui with the assistance of a talented advisory board, faculty, and certifying board that trains students in the variety of pre and post natal methods and practices developed over her fifteen years of private consulting and business practice.
The Institute’s online learning format allows students from all over the world to experience the finest and most diverse maternity training program through an online maternity school.
The Maternity Institute also provides consultation services for hospitals, birthing centers, retailers, corporations and individuals who wish to incorporate these methods into business, hospital and childbirth programs. By increasing the level of knowledge among professionals and the general public, the Maternity Institute aims to be a leading authority with an integrative approach to pre-conceiving, pregnancy, and post birth methods.
Our Founder
IMI and IABPP founder, Mary Oscategui, authored the first book on the baby planning industry entitled “The Baby Planner: A Guide to Becoming a Baby Planner and Starting Your Own Business.” In her book, for the first time ever, the role of a baby planner and a baby planner’s scope of practice was definitively defined. The popularity of her book resulted in a second edition entitled “The Baby Planner Profession: What You Need To Know! The Ultimate Guide and Resource For Baby Planner Professionals” that is now available in paperback.
In addition to her avid support of baby planners and childbirth professionals, Ms. Oscategui is committed to eco-friendly parenting and educating expecting and new parents on the importance of green living. Ms. Oscategui introduced the first greenproofing training program through the Baby Planner Institute and provides expecting parents, parents and childbirth professionals with an in-depth look at the world of greenproofing through her latest book, “Green Body Green Birth.”
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Ms. Stefanie Antunes, IMI’s CEO, was most recently the founder of Discover Birth and executive director of the Birth Doula Program at The Scarborough Hospital. She is an experienced birth doula trainer, postpartum doula, and Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator. Ms. Antunes has been recognized for her work on the documentary “The Essential Ingredient”, and as a contributing author of the Best Selling book “The Power of Women United” and “Bearing Witness”. She is the former Director of Public Relations for DONA International. Before her work in maternity care she spent a decade as a management consultant in the field of corporate intelligence. She is a mother of 3, residing in Toronto, Ontario where she sits on various boards in her community.
Founder and Director of Education
Mary Oscategui Mary Oscategui, is an international business and health coach who has successfully started and grown many businesses and organizations.
She is the Founder and Educational Director of the International Maternity Institute (IMI), International Academy of Baby Planner Professionals (IABPP), Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Association of Professional Sleep Consultants (APSC), and Sacred Biz Partner with Sacred Pregnancy.
Additionally Mary founded The Baby Planner, Physical Awakening, and WhollyWoman.us, offering holistic services in sacred pregnancy, baby planning, maternity and child sleep, health, fitness, nutrition, life coaching, stress management, yoga therapy and green living.
She has a multitude of trainings and experience related to business and health including: business management, sales and marketing, business start-up, business coaching, yoga instruction, yoga therapy, personal training, group exercise instruction, dance, wellness coaching, eco-consulting, baby planning, sleep coaching, and stress management.
Mary combines her business and health coaching to support maternity professionals, birth professionals, health professionals and mompreneurs. She offers individual consultations, workshops, and retreats.
Her enthusiasm, inspiration, creativity, and knowledge has helped a variety of businesses around the globe including:
Austria, England, France, Luxemburg, Bahrain, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Poland, Russia, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Israel, Argentina, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Peru, Chile, Bermuda and throughout the United States.
She is a passionate visionary in health, maternity, birth and business education and has been consulting and guiding hundreds of clients for the last 17 years.
She is the author of “The Baby Planner Profession: What You Need To Know! The Ultimate Guide and Resource for Baby Planner Professionals,” and her latest book, “Green Body Green Birth”.
Mary lives in Marin, CA with her two children Bella Luna and Taj Orion Sky.
For more information about Mary visit MaryOscategui.com
Co-President
Emily Schaffer brings over 18 years of professional work in the maternity industry and holds the following certifications: Postpartum Doula, Lactation Educator, Sleep Consultant, Baby Planner, Greenproofer, GreenBirth Educator, Wholistic Infant Sleep Educator, Happiest Baby on the Block Educator and Newborn Care Instructor. She received her B.A. in Holistic Health at Prescott College in Arizona. She has helped hundreds of families get better night sleep and has worked thousands of hours in private homes directly with families. Emily is committed to helping with the transition into parenthood with physical and emotional support for the entire family. She emphasizes education so that new parents are better equipped to make informed decisions and have the skills to be successful.
Emily offers private consultations on baby planning, newborn care, breastfeeding & lactation advice, newborn sleep solutions, nursery preparation, greening your home and nanny hiring. In addition she also teaches various workshops in her local and on-line community. She has been published in several on-line resources: Marinmommies, SBParent and Barefoot & Pregnant. She speaks at at national conferences on Postpartum Care. Emily is Co-President of International Maternity Institute and serves on many Advisory Boards. Emily currently lives in her native hometown of Mill Valley, California with her husband and new baby girl.
Executive Assistant to Business Manager
Marie-Pier Villeneuve, IMI’s Executive Assistant, is a native of Quebec, Canada. She studied Fashion Marketing before leaving to Mexico, where she lived for four years. She speaks fluent French, English and Spanish. She is proud mother of the most incredible two year-old Mexican named Jacob Olivier. She is a certified baby planner and greenproofer via the International Maternity Institute. She is also currently training through the International Maternity Institute to become a Certified Sleep Consultant. Additionally Marie-Pier is a mompreneur as the founder and principal advisor of her baby planning company, Bedaine Urbaine, the first certified Baby Planner company in Quebec: http://www.bedaineurbaine.com/.
It’s with great pleasure that she has now agreed to fill the title of executive assistant for IMI.
Maternity Prep Webinar Director
Lindsay Corwin, IMI’s Maternity Prep Webinar Director has worked with families for over 10 years in many different capacities from nanny to House Manager to Personal Assistant and now Postpartum Doula and Sleep Consultant. She is originally from Lake Tahoe, NV but had lived in London England before moving to The San Francisco Bay Area with her English husband. The Bay Area has opened so many doors for Lindsay and she has found her calling in the maternity world.
Lindsay is a DONA (Doulas of North America) trained postpartum doula and a graduate of the International Maternity Institutes Sleep Consultant Certification program. She believes that education is an ongoing process and is continuously adding to her credentials. Lindsay strives to educate families with the most up to date evidence based information available so that they can make informed decisions.
Lindsay is an active volunteer as a birth doula at a local county hospital. She also volunteers her time as a postpartum doula for low-income families. She truly believes that every woman and family, regardless of background and experience, benefits from being informed and having a great support system.
Lindsay feels so honored that she can be a part of a family’s life during such an amazing and important time.
IABPP Director
Sarah Sanesi, IABPP Director, is a certified baby planner, eco-maternity consultant, and a childcare placement professional. Hong Kong has been Sarah’s home since 2008.She is French-American, her husband’s Italian and they are the proud parents of a little girl who was born in Hong Kong, a true “Third Culture Kid” as her soon to be brother!
Sarah discovered her life’s calling while her best friend in France was going through a difficult first pregnancy. She casually provided her with education, support and unbiased information. Then one day, as she was looking for pregnancy groups that she could join for additional support, she came across the website of a French certified Baby Planner. A cartoon light bulb went off above her head. Things had never seemed so obvious or clear. She became a student of the International Academy of Baby Planner Professionals (IABPP) and within hours began her journey to what is now a busy certified Baby Planner, Eco-Consultant and Childcare Placement professional. Little did she know at the time that the course would open so many doors.
As a Baby Planner, Sarah loves providing couples with all the guidance, support and resources to make it an easy, fun and stress-free journey. She is passionate about giving parents a sense of confidence and comfort. She strives to make maternity and birthing a positive experience for the whole family, from pre-conception to post-partum.
As an Eco-Maternity Consultant, Sarah provides education, support and resources to families in order to allow them to protect their loved ones from unsafe exposure to potentially toxic substances in their home, on their body and in their environment. Sarah’s wish to become an Eco-Maternity Consultant through the International Maternity Institute (IMI) stemmed from her personal need to be more aware of her environment during her first pregnancy. Pregnancy and parenthood can trigger the need to become conscious of the potential toxic impact from one’s daily choices on their family.
As a Childcare Placement professional, while starting her business as a professional Baby Planner, Sarah noticed one recurring common concern amongst her baby planner clients was childcare. Hong Kong is home to 300,000 foreign domestic helpers and yet, everyone around her had horror stories and anxiety attacks about finding and hiring the right helper. As a result, Sarah used her experience as a trained Baby Planner along with that of being a volunteer for two domestic helper organizations in Hong Kong for several years in order to provide her clients with the additional service of domestic helper placement, the best Hong Kong has to offer!
Sarah’s varied expertise has allowed her to work with hundreds of parents from many different countries and backgrounds. She’s grown from a one woman show to a several employee business in less than two years and the continued opportunities for growth seem endless. She looks forward to transmitting the “Anything is possible” spirit that she caught when stepping through the doors of the IABPP and supporting the IABPP organization and its’ members.
Jessica Wilson, ACA, is an insurance consultant, adjuster and educator who specializes in homeowners’ insurance claims. Jessica holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of South Florida and an Associate’s degree in Psychology from St. Petersburg College. She is a licensed Public Adjuster in the state of Florida. Jessica has been working in the insurance industry for the past ten (10) years and is an avid speaker and educator on insurance practices and claims adjusting. Jessica is the founder of Blue Sail Consulting, Inc., a lead Public Adjuster at Southeast Sinkhole & Storm Adjusters, Inc. which she co-founded with her husband and the Vice President at Rick J. Wilson & Associates, Inc. She has represented hundreds of homeowners and business owners in their insurance claims.Jessica currently resides in beautiful Tarpon Springs, Florida with her husband, Rickey, her six year old son, Ethan, her four year old step-son, Landon and her two month old daughter, Rhys. In her spare time, she enjoys fishing, kayaking and traveling with her family.
Jessica’s desire to become a Certified Baby Planner was born during her frantic preparation for the arrival of her daughter, Rhys. While attempting to juggle her career, tend to her blended family, take care of her household and maintain a healthy pregnancy, along with the multitude of preparations necessary to welcome her daughter’s arrival, she found herself wasting precious time and energy re-familiarizing herself with the best baby products and services in her area. This emotional, fretful time was the inspiration behind her baby planning business, [MOD] momma, Inc. Through [MOD] momma, Inc., Jessica offers guidance, support and education in preparing for the transition into parenthood to make it the most seamless and memorable as possible.
Saray Hill is an IBCLC (International Board Certified Lactation Consultant), a Certified Lactation Consultant, Lactation Educator, Breastfeeding Peer Counselor, a Trained Postpartum Doula by Dona International and an alternative healing therapies, essential oils and herbs lover. She earned a Bachelors degree in Economics back in 2000 in her city of origin in Ecuador and attended the Lactation Consultant Certification Program by UCSD-Extension (University of California San Diego Extension). In addition, she is also bilingual in English and Spanish and is the mother of two wonderful girls (one born at home).
