Our Team
Our team
LEAD COUNSELLOR, HYPNOBIRTHING® EDUCATOR & OWNER
Mercedes Ruiz
Mercedes is our HypnoBirthing® and Perinatal Mental Health expert, and she’s here to support you through everything from TTC to the postpartum period. Throughout her own journeys in the perinatal period, Mercedes recognized a gap in perinatal services and decided to create The Perinatal Wellness Centre.
Mercedes has supported clients in the perinatal period as a birth and postpartum doula, childbirth educator and counsellor since 2014.
Originally from Mexico City, Mercedes has been in Nova Scotia since 2013 and has grown her family in Dartmouth.
REGISTERED ACUPUNCTURIST
Julie Saint-Pierre
Julie discovered acupuncture after she was successfully treated for her severe food allergies in Montreal, Quebec.
Julie became pregnant only a few months after graduating. This gave her the opportunity to explore and study the beautiful and transforming path of the creation of life from both a personal and Chinese medicine perspective.
In 2019, Julie & her family moved to Nova Scotia, where she now practices a highly effective style of medicine known as the Balance Method. Operating out of Access Acupuncture, she is one of the 15 certified practitioners recognized in Canada.
Julie specializes in pain, women’s health and pediatrics. We are very excited to have her join the team and focus on fertility, pregnancy and postpartum care at The Perinatal Wellness Centre!
CLINICAL SOCIAL WORKER
Heidi Meagher
Heidi is a social worker who has worked in areas related to parenting since 2009. Her personal experience with perinatal and postpartum mental health, birth trauma, pregnancy loss, and parenting a neurodivergent child has given her an extra level of understanding and empathy in working with birthing and non-birthing parents and those striving to become parents.
Heidi brings to her sessions a respectful sense of curiosity about the people she meets. She strives to create a safe and judgement free space for all.
REGISTERED COUNSELLING THERAPIST - PRACTICUM STUDENT
Maiya Gallant
Maiya is a Master's student in Counselling Psychology completing her clinical placement at The Perinatal Wellness Centre, where she practices under the clinical supervision of Mercedes.
With a background as a Birth & Postpartum Doula and former special education teacher, she brings a compassionate, family-centered approach to her work, especially with those navigating the perinatal period or parenting children with additional needs.
Her practice combines humanistic and cognitive approaches to create a safe, supportive space for growth and healing.
Originally from Halifax, Maiya is glad to be home, offering reduced-rate sessions that make therapy more accessible while maintaining personalized, empathetic care.