Who We Are

Ashley Engram, CLC/Doula

Ashley Engram, President

Ashley Engram is a Certified Lactation Counselor (CLC) , Birth Doula (MSP), and Childbirth Educator. She is a wife and homeschooling Mother of 6 beautiful children, a family devoted to the cause of Chirist. In 2012, after the birth of her 2nd child, Ashley began helping family and friends during pregnancy to prepare for birth and breastfeeding and officially opened Manger Born Doula Services in 2016.

Ashley Engram has been serving with the Mohawk Valley Breastfeeding Network since 2015 after having received their scholarship for Lactation training. After becoming a Certified Lactation Counselor, Ashley opened a new Breastfeeding Café for the Breastfeeding Network in the inner city and served as a hostess until the pandemic impacted their community outreach.

In 2017 Ashley founded the Mohawk Valley Prenatal and Maternity Support group-turned- charity that provides free Childbirth Education, Doula support and Breastfeeding counseling as well as free maternity items and infant care essentials to low-income at-risk families. Over the years, she has worked within the Network as secretary, event coordinator and graphic designer.

More recent accomplishments include Ashley’s new group created in April 2024:  “Sister Circle: Black Birth & Breastfeeding Initiative.” It was created in hopes of eliminating social barriers to black maternal-child health equity and decrease the maternal-child health disparity among Black/Latin women.

Ashley continues to provide free training to local black women to become birth doulas. Her doula graduates will provide free doula support to local black pregnant moms. These newly trained doulas will also receive 6 months of business mentorship where Ashley and her team will walk with the doula graduates through their first client and help them launch their own doula businesses. She has called these the ‘Sister Circle: Nurturing the Doula’ sessions.
Her pregnant “clients” will also be participating in monthly social gatherings called ‘Sister Circle: Nurturing the Mother’ where they can bond with each other and share their fears and concerns about birth and hopefully overcome them to birth fearlessly!
Please help share her efforts by sharing this information about her program and help raise awareness about the need for doula + lactation support for black childbearing women.
 
We at the Mohawk Valley Breastfeeding Network are pleased to announce the appointment of our new President, Ashley Engram!
Ania Mroczek, RN/IBCLC

Ania Mroczek, Vice President

Ania Mroczek is the founder of Mohawk Valley Lactation, a private practice dedicated to providing compassionate, evidence-based lactation support to families in the Mohawk Valley region. With over 15 years of experience as an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, Ania has supported more than 5,000 families through their infant feeding journeys.

As a mother of four children and an experienced Registered Nurse with a background in maternity and labor and delivery, Ania brings both professional expertise and personal understanding to her work. Currently weaning her toddler herself, she intimately understands the challenges, joys, and vulnerabilities that come with each stage of the breastfeeding journey.

Ania’s approach centers on empowering parents to trust their instincts and their babies. She focuses on building confidence, recognizing infant needs, and helping families discover what works uniquely for them. Her holistic philosophy embraces evidence-based care alongside complementary approaches including chiropractic care, functional medicine, and dietary modifications, always prioritizing the root causes of feeding difficulties rather than just symptoms.

Ania has served as Vice President of the Mohawk Valley Breastfeeding Network since 2023, having previously held the position of President from 2020 to 2023. She is also a Breastfeeding Café Leader and has shared her expertise through professional speaking engagements in Utica, Syracuse, and Kraków, Poland. Through her volunteer work and private practice, Ania continues to champion accessible, compassionate lactation support for all families.

Christine Ceely, La Leche League Leader

Christine Ceely, Treasurer

Hi, I am Christine Case-Ceely. I have been a La Leche League leader since 1997 for the LLL of Utica. I have nursed both my boys for several years and even tandem nursed while holding a full time job. I am the first working mom in New York State to be accredited as a LLL leader. I host online meetings in the evening to help mom’s that do not have transportation or help during the day to attend and for working moms who would not be available to get the much needed help and friendship. I have been involved with the Mohawk Valley Breastfeeding Network since 2010. I hold the position of treasurer and help organize educational conferences and other outreach activities.

MVBN Team Players