GOLD Speakers

Penny Simkin, PT, BA

• Country: USA

Biography:

Penny Simkin, PT, is a physical therapist who has specialized in childbirth education since 1968. She estimates she has prepared over 12,000 women, couples, and siblings for childbirth. She has assisted hundreds of women and couples through childbirth as a doula. She is the author of many books on birth for both parents and professionals, including The Labor Progress Handbook, Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Newborn: The Complete Guide, The Birth Partner: A Complete Guide to Childbirth for Dads, Doulas, and All Other Labor Companions.  Her latest product for birth educators and doulas is the sibling video, “There’s a Baby”, released in Spring 2013.

Currently, she serves on several boards of consultants and editorial boards, including the journal, Birth: Issues in Perinatal Care; the International Childbirth Education Association; and the Seattle Midwifery School.

Through independent study and her work as a birth counselor, she has developed a counseling approach for pregnant survivors of sexual abuse. This work is described in the book, “When Survivors Give Birth,” which she co-authored with Phyllis Klaus, MFT, LCSW.

Today her practice consists of childbirth education, birth counseling, and labor support, combined with a busy schedule of conferences and workshops.

Penny and her husband, Peter, have four grown children and eight grandchildren, ranging in age from 10 to 27 years.