Meet our Team
Melissa Conord-Morrow, IBCLC, LM, RN - Founder, Director
Melissa has been working with women and families in the Central Florida area since 1995. She began as a mother reaching out to others, then as a Breastfeeding Peer Counselor at WIC and a Perinatal Educator and Doula, before completing her midwifery education at Miami Dade College and earning her license in 2004. She was a midwife at the birth center formerly known as Labor of Love through 2010 and then started her own practice, Celebrate Birth, ultimately purchasing the birth center in 2013 with her husband, James.
In 2016, Melissa and James founded The Nest with the goal of meeting our community’s needs regarding education and support for growing families. Then, in 2017 she earned her IBCLC certification (license L-127181). Melissa has always had a heart for serving her fellow Lakelanders and she hopes you'll find The Nest to be a welcoming place for mothers and their families in the childbearing years.
Karen Cobb, CBE - Assistant Director, Education Coordinator
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Karen has been a Childbirth Educator since 2013, certified alongside the Hypnobabies Childbirth Hypnosis program. She started teaching childbirth classes for Celebrate Birth in 2015 and became their Education Coordinator the following year, and then transitioned to the same role at The Nest once it opened, In addition to managing the class calendar, curriculums, and instructors, Karen also oversees day-to-day operations at the office and helps to keep our organization running smoothly. She enjoys connecting local families to the resources they need for pregnancy, lactation, and postpartum support.
Whitney Filippone, IBCLC
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Whitney became a Certified Breastfeeding Specialist in 2017 and has played an integral role on our lactation team ever since. During her IBCLC candidacy she completed 14 college courses, 95 hours of lactation-specific education, and over 500 clinical hours, the majority of those hours spent as an apprentice with the Lactation Department on the Mother Baby and NICU floors at Lakeland Regional Health. Whitney passed her boards with flying colors in 2023 and is proud to be an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (L-314314).
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