Staff & Volunteers

Molly Rybak, DHom, CPM

Molly Rybak is a Certified Professional Midwife and a Doctor of Homeopathy. Her interest in midwifery began with the pregnancy of her first child in 1986. Her training in midwifery consisted of a combination of childbirth educator training, apprenticeship, and internship in a birthing center.

From 1992-97 Molly and her husband, Gheorghy Rybak, lived in St. Petersburg and conducted internships. In those five years, 30 interns completed the program and thousands of Russian women were assisted in having more soul-satisfying births.

Molly is dedicated to a holistic model of direct-entry midwifery education. Since her first trip to Russia in 1990, she had a vision of American direct-entry midwifery students learning in the rich environment of a transforming Russia. In the years since the first internship in 1992, the RBP was instrumental in evoking change in the maternity system of St. Petersburg. More than this however, interns had the unique opportunity to take part in birth experiences they would not likely encounter in the west. Working closely with her friend and colleague Dr. Anatoly Nikolaev, Molly learned Russian classical midwifery. She is committed to imparting this art to western midwifery students.

In 1997, Molly and her family returned to the US for a brief reprise from Russian life. They make their home in Iowa where Molly runs a busy homeopathy practice in addition to midwifery work. She is the mother of three children.

Molly and her family are anxious to resume offering internships in the summer of 2000, and to continue offering them every summer.

Anatoly Nikolaev, MD

Anatoly Anatolievich Nikolaev has been a practicing obstetrician for 20 years.  He lives and works in St. Petersburg.  For over half his career he has been Head of Labor & Delivery at a high-volume roddom.  In 1993, he met Molly Rybak and became involved with the RBP as an instructor and mentor.  Anatoly speaks English fluently and is a well-respected teacher in Russia.

Anatoly's father, also Anatoly Nikolaev, was a well-known obstetrician from Kiev and later Leningrad.  He developed, together with other Soviet obstetricians, the psycho prophylaxis technique of natural (drug-free) childbirth--what later became known as the Lamaze method.

Anatoly is a board member of both the RBP and The Iowa School of Classical Midwifery.  His knowledge and expertise, rooted in years of practicing modern classical midwifery, make him an ideal consultant and occasional guest speaker for both programs.  In 2000, he and Molly Rybak began writing a textbook on classical midwifery which will eventually serve as a unique resource for Western midwives.

Other Russian and American staff and volunteers include various former interns, friends and acquaintances who assist in certain facets of the programs.

Gheorghy Rybak, Manager

Gheorghy Rybak was born in Leningrad after World War II, where he grew up.  He earned his advanced degree in hydro engineering from one of Leningrad's top polytechnic institutes.  A talented writer, Gheorghy was involved with the Leningrad Writers' Association throughout the sixties, seventies and eighties. 

Gheorghy weathered one of the Soviet Union's most turbulent periods.  He struggled to bring people together to work for freedom of migration within the Soviet Union in the seventies and eighties.  At the same time, strongly influenced by the works of Russian anthropologist Lev Gumalev, Austrian Rudolf Steiner, and numerous Russian mystics and spiritual writers, he began realizing his true purpose as an ontologist.  Currently Gheorghy is finishing a book about the cosmic bases of the current world political/economic situation.

Gheorghy is dedicated to serving the RBP interns and to making their stay in Russia as comfortable and as stimulating as possible.  He is responsible for the practical aspects of the interns' lives, including locating and renting apartments, purchasing food for interns, handling unexpected emergencies.  He also negotiates contracts with the roddom.  He enjoys leading cultural excursions for interns and offers a mystical explanation of Russian historical places and events not available in a typical guided tour!