Changemakers is a column that highlights the work of local nonprofit organizations serving Athens County.
On a Friday morning at The Nest on Columbus Road, home to the Athens Birth Circle, where a roomful of moms and toddlers are gathered for a weekly music program, Lullabies for Health Lives. Music therapist Miss Hannah dives right in. The first song serves as a way for the preschoolers to sing hello to each child, one at a time. Next, the songs get them up and moving –– “Let me see you wavin’ … Let me see you jumpin.’”
Miss Hannah asks, “Who’s ready to play some instruments?” and the kids all know the drill. They approach her to pick up small hand bells to ring along with the next song. When Miss Hannah afterward asks, “Are we ready to put them back in the bag?” the kids return the bells and later pick different instruments for another song.
Megan Buskirk is here with her two-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Eloise Miller.
“She’s always loved music, so we’ve been going since she was seven months old. And that was the initial thing, it was something to do, enriching her with music,” Buskirk told the Independent. She credits this music program with teaching her daughter to say “bye-bye.”
But Birth Circle programming is much more than meets the eye, Buskirk said. “I’ve made mom friends and she’s made kid friends … otherwise, where are you going to meet people in the same season of life as you?”
The Birth Circle was founded in 2002 by parents with young children with a mission that endures today: To empower and support families in southeast Ohio on their journeys to and through parenthood by providing information, resources and community.
“That’s what this place is. It’s placemaking. You provide the place and everything else just happens,” Buskirk says.
Even before The Nest opened its doors in 2019, the Birth Circle provided the space –– literally or figuratively –– for families with young children to come together. Longstanding programming includes regular Prepared Parents Workshops as well as clothing and toy swaps.
Currently, The Nest is also home to a lactation consultant, a midwife, a resource library and meeting spaces.
When Jessica Hall was a young mom, she didn’t know the Birth Circle existed, she told the Independent. She learned about it through her work as a Help Me Grow nurse, a parent support program sponsored by the Ohio Department of Health. Hall visits new parents in their homes.
“They were home alone (and I was) seeing more depression setting in, more post-partum depression signs,” Hall said. “I realized there was an isolation of the moms and I was looking for a place for them to connect.”
Hall started looking around and she found the Birth Circle. Today, Hall serves as the president of the organization’s board of directors, and she brings her granddaughter to the programs. “She loves to come to the Birth Circle,” Hall said.
Hall is not the only grandparent who attends programming –– the community is diverse, with grandparents, dads, international parents and other caretakers. There have even been specific sub-groups, like for dads and international parents.
The Birth Circle supports the annual Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day through programming, like a Passion Works flower painting session in memory of loss and a memorial wave of light ceremony at the Pregnancy and Infant Loss Memorial Bench at Sells Park.
This diversity of membership is sometimes not understood outside of the Birth Circle community itself. Courtney Knoch did not take advantage of the Birth Circle’s free and low-cost programming when she had her own daughter six years ago.
“I had this idea that they were these kind of crunchy people who caught babies in somebody’s living room … I think a lot of people think that,” said Knoch, who is now the organization’s executive director.
“That’s awesome if that’s what a mom wants and that’s what a mom needs, we are there to help her,” she says, adding, “If the mom prefers a hospital with the biggest epidural she can get, we’re there for that, too.”
To that end, the Birth Circle offers a Prepared Parents Workshop three times a year. Topics covered include pregnancy, birth, infant CPR and first aid, breastfeeding and positive parenting. Presenters include a lactation consultant, a mental health counselor and a prenatal yoga instructor. With support from the Athens County Foundation, the workshop covers lunch and giveaways, including diapers.
In 2025, the Birth Circle served more than 2,400 people, including parents, children and even women experiencing menopause through its Midlife Wisdom Group.
“It’s reproductive health,” says board chair Hall, “That’s in our bucket.”
This year was the sixteenth iteration of the Community Baby Shower and Resource Fair and was held at the Athens Community Center. Vendors included local healthcare professionals, insurance companies and major health systems like Nationwide Children’s, OhioHealth and Marietta Memorial.
September 12 will bring the annual Athens County Community Baby Shower, held 10 a.m.–1 p.m. at the Athens Community Center on East State Street.. The event is an opportunity for expecting parents, new parents and families to connect with local resources and learn about services available in the community. The event will also feature raffles and giveaways.
However it happens, the Birth Circle exists to support local parents in any way possible. This means day to day and during crises: When a family in early 2026 suffered a house fire, the Birth Circle was able to quickly provide them with essentials including a car seat, diapers, and clothing.
“I never want there to be a need, but if there is a need, I want to fill it. And if I can’t fill it, I will find somebody who can,” director Knoch said.
She emphasizes that the Birth Circle is for every family. “No matter who they are, they are welcome. It doesn’t matter. Nothing about who they are matters. As long as they’re kind, they’re welcome in our space.”
