Leah Elliott, DNP, MSN-ED, RNC, IBCLC

I started my career taking care of mothers and their babies in the Bakersfield community over 24 years ago. In the hospital, I have worked in many different roles that range from a birth assistant to a childbirth/lactation consultant, doula, and registered nurse.
    Before becoming a nurse, I was privileged to work in the non-profit sector with the local chapter of Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies as the project manager overseeing two large grant-funded projects. The Bakersfield Doula project and the Breastfeeding Comfort Line. These projects were able to serve several thousand Kern County women over a 5-year lifespan.
    I am a lifelong learner who enjoys the process of guiding my nursing students in the discovery of learning something new. My favorite subject to teach is the process of supporting a new family in their journey through childbirth (medically, physically, and emotionally). As a nurse, I have assisted hundreds of women through this life-changing rite of passage and respect the responsibility of this role. I believe that every birth is special and that being a part of the creation of a family is a privilege. I created a YouTube channel and have hundreds of lectures and carefully curated video playlists for nursing students and nurses new to the specialty.
    I have been sharing my passion for nursing; particularly maternity and newborn care, with students for the last 10 years and currently serve the role of a content expert for the registered nurse ADN program at Bakersfield College.
   I became interested in the expert legal nurse role following the completion of my time serving as a juror. I am able to use my research skills and experience in this specialty to review the medical record and offer an unbiased opinion of the facts presented. It is a little like solving a mystery as the clues can be subtle.
   My education includes an AS and BSN in Registered Nursing, and a master’s in nursing education. I completed my Doctor of Nursing Practice in 2019 and my project was the implementation of a process improvement project to decrease the primary cesarean section rate in low-risk mothers. In the year following implementation, the unit saw a 10% decrease in the cesarean rate. In 2023 I will fulfill a lifelong goal of completing my second Masters in Nurse-Midwifery.  
    I and my husband have five grown children and one very smart border-collie/Australian shepherd named Callie. My interests include organic gardening and the use of water-wise California native plants as landscape plants. Sewing and fiber arts are a form of meditation and I have a deep respect for the tradition and artistic skill needed to produce hand-crafted items. I pass this along by teaching others at every opportunity.