Meet Our Compassionate Midwives

Sit back and enjoy your pregnancy with the compassionate and comprehensive care of the excellent midwife team at Greater New Haven OB/GYN.

Margaret Withington, CNM

Certified Nurse Midwife

Margaret Withington

Margaret is a certified Nurse Midwife providing full scope midwifery care for woman from adolescence through menopause. She has been practicing at Greater New Haven OB/GYN PC group since September 1996 and has been practicing in the Greater New Haven area since 1989. Margaret has distinguished herself as a superb clinician providing care in all areas of low risk obstetrics and gynecological patients.

Margaret earned her bachelor’s degree in Nursing at Texas Woman’s University in 1977. She fulfilled a dream of joining the United States Air Force (USAF) in 1981 and had the opportunity to work with Certified Nurse Midwives and became committed to Woman’s Health. She completed the USAF Midwifery program and obtained her certification in July 1986.

After serving eight years in the USAF, Margaret returned to her home and family in Connecticut in 1989. She was still committed to the military and served thirteen years with the Connecticut Air National Guard and retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in 2002.

Margaret demonstrates a broad knowledge base providing guidance and teaching of residents and students. She is a member of the American College of Nurse Midwives and also the Connecticut chapter. Margaret is also a member of the New Haven OB/GYN Society.

Outside of her commitment to midwifery, Margaret is a spectator of all Boston team sports and one of the greatest moments was watching the Boston Red Sox win the 2004 World Series.

Joan Messner, CNM

Certified Nurse Midwife

Joan Messner CNM Joanie Messner has been a certified nurse-midwife since 1996. Originally from Ohio, Joanie attended Oberlin College and received her BA in Psychology with a minor in French language. After college, she worked at Planned Parenthood in Ann Arbor Michigan, where she became interested in women’s health. The Midwifery Program at Case Western Reserve University took her back to Cleveland, Ohio, where she completed a bachelor’s degree in nursing, and then a master’s degree and certification in midwifery. She also married her husband Dan and began working at Kaiser Permanente as a full scope CNM. In 2000, she came to the New Haven, CT area and has been delivering babies at Yale New Haven hospital ever since. In 2006, Joanie became part of the Greater New Haven OB/GYN family where she has been happily taking care of women and catching their babies! She and her husband live in Hamden. They have two teenage children (Adele and Henry) who keep them on their toes, as well as two cats (Beatrix Potter and Ted). When not in the office, or on the labor floor, Joanie can be found exercising, reading, singing in her local Unitarian Universalist choir, directing plays and musicals in her community little theater, schlepping her kids around, or helping out with school activities.

Kristin Nowak, CNM

Certified Nurse Midwife

Kristin Nowak CNM Kristin grew up in western Pennsylvania, then moved to Hanover, New Hampshire for her undergraduate studies at Dartmouth College. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Environmental and Evolutionary Biology and Anthropology. After a year working in a developmental biology lab, she began her Masters in Public Health at Dartmouth Medical School, during which time she led projects focused on improving the quality of care for women attempting Vaginal Birth after Cesarean (VBAC), comparisons of breast cancer treatment regimens, and assessing nutrition resources for children in the Upper Valley of New Hampshire and Vermont. She graduated with her MPH in 2004, and then joined the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice where she conducted research focused on healthcare utilization, spending, and outcomes. During this period, she gave birth to two amazing daughters, with the help of her inspiring midwives.

Her empowering birth experiences cinched her suspicion that she wanted to become a midwife herself. After relocating to Connecticut, she earned her master’s degree in Nurse-Midwifery at Yale School of Nursing. During this time, she helped author a reproductive health curriculum and manuscript targeting low-income women in New Haven. Greater New Haven Ob Gyn Group welcomed her to their practice in 2011. Kristin is also a staff affiliate at both Yale School of Medicine and Yale School of Nursing where she precepts and teaches midwifery students and residents about caring for women during labor and birth as well as across the lifespan. She loves providing both pregnancy-related and gynecological care to women of all ages.

Outside of work, she enjoys travelling, yoga and exploring the outdoors with her daughters.

Elizabeth Schwartz, CNM

Certified Nurse Midwife

Elizabeth Schwartz CNM Elizabeth obtained her nursing degree from the University of Buffalo in 1994. After graduation she worked as a labor and delivery RN and high risk obstetrical RN in Rochester, N.Y., Denver, CO, and San Diego, CA. She decided to further her education in Obstetrics and Women’s Health.

Elizabeth attended San Diego State University and University of California, San Diego and attained her Master’s degree/Nurse Midwifery, Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner certification in 1999. She started her midwifery career at San Diego Naval Medical Center. After six years at the Naval Medical Center, Elizabeth joined a private practice in Dover New Hampshire where she practiced full scope midwifery until joining Greater New Haven OB GYN in 2014.

Elizabeth resides in Branford with her husband and two sons.

Diane Presnick, CNM

Certified Nurse Midwife

Diane Presnick CNM Diane is a Certified Nurse Midwife from Hamden, CT. She provides office obstetrical and gynecological care.

Diane attended the University of Connecticut and received a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. After graduation, her professional experience has included working in adolescent medicine at Yale New Haven Hospital, obstetric and gynecological surgery in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and providing rural hospital care and public health care to all ages in northern Nevada. Upon returning to Connecticut, Diane’s desire to provide health care to women led to her employment at Planned Parenthood in Torrington. She decided to pursue advanced education, attending the State University of New York (SUNY) at Downstate in Brooklyn for her midwifery education. Her midwifery career took her to the Community Health Care Plan (CHCP) and to another private practice before joining Greater New Haven OB/GYN in 2000.

When not listening to women regarding their health care issues, she enjoys nature, gardening, skiing and soccer. Diane continues to give back to the nursing program at UCONN through her involvement with the Presnick Family Nursing Scholarship and mentoring of new graduates.

Meghan Constantino, CNM

Certified Nurse Midwife

Meghan Constantino
As a Certified Nurse-Midwife, Meaghan provides prenatal and gynecological care for women from adolescence to menopause. She has a special interest in adolescent medicine and is also proficient in Spanish.

Meghan earned her bachelor's degree in Human Biology at Stanford University and her master's degree in Nurse-Midwifery at Yale University School of Nursing. She then joined the clinical faculty at Yale School of Nursing, teaching aspiring midwives and caring for women at the Women's Center at Yale New Haven Hospital. After two years, she joined Greater New Haven OBGYN but also maintains a courtesy faculty position at the Yale School of Nursing. She has authored two papers in the Journal of Midwifery and Women's Health, one about syphilis in pregnancy and the other about care of methadone-maintained women in pregnancy. She was honored as the Recent Graduate of Excellence in 2008 by the state chapter of the American College of Nurse-Midwives. She has served as vice chair for for Connecticut Affiliate of the American College of Nurse-Midwives and has sat on the board of the Soroptimists of Greater New Haven.

She currently lives in Cheshire with her husband. In her free time, she runs her own non-profit, A Very Merry Birthday.

Our Doctors

Denise Tonzola, MD

Richard Moscarelli, MD

Our Midwives

Margaret Withington, CNM

Diane Presnick, CNM

Joan Messner, CNM