Welcome to Our Practice

Naturopathy

At Northern Sun Family Healthcare, we provide comprehensive medical care for all ages. We offer regular check ups for the whole family, and incorporate conventional testing and treatment options with naturopathic medical care. We also provide complete midwifery care and continued medical care for mother and baby.

Midwifery

Families are increasingly choosing to have their babies in the safety and privacy of their own home, or in a home-like setting such as the Birth Center. At Northern Sun, we offer a unique blend of midwifery services and naturopathic medical care for the whole family that can continue after the birth, much like an old-time general family practice.

Birth Center

Birth at a birth center provides a familiar, warm environment where women can give birth and find healthcare that respects their desires and nourishes their dreams. Both the intimate, home-like quality of the setting and the welcoming, reassuring, professional nature of the staff embody the fundamental idea that birth is an essentially normal and powerful event.
Overview

In this section, we welcome you to learn more about our naturopathic doctors, and the team at Northern Sun.

For more information or to schedule an appointment at Northern Sun, please call us at (207)798-3993 or email us.

We specialize in both naturopathic medicine and midwifery. We combine naturopathic therapies and nutrition with a traditional check up, much like old-time family practice doctors. Our naturopathic doctors enjoy getting to know people and being a part of a families’ healthcare. They also provide annual exams, well baby/child visits, sports physicals and integrate diagnostic lab work as needed.

As a midwife, Dr. Ackerly is committed to offering individualized education and counseling during prenatal care and continuous hands on care during labor, birth and postpartum. Our naturopathic doctors see babies for their well-baby care and throughout their childhood. They enjoy seeing the little ones grow and thrive, and are happy to offer continuity of care for our families.

Dr. Sarah Ackerly - Naturopathic Doctor and Midwife

Sarah is a Naturopathic doctor and Certified Professional Midwife. She grew up in Louisville, Kentucky and went to college in Boulder, Colorado. Sarah spent time in the Appalachian region of rural Kentucky and decided to go to Naturopathic medical school as a way to integrate her interest in medicine with her love of herbs and natural therapies for healing.

She completed her medical training and did a two year residency in Naturopathic Family practice at the Portland Naturopathic Clinic in Portland, Oregon.  As part of her midwifery education, Sarah spent time in El Paso Texas, learning much from the midwives and Mexican women.  She believes in education and gives her patients lots of information and tools to make the best choices for them. Sarah has been on the faculty of Birthwise Midwifery School since 1996.

She is a member of American Association of Naturopathic Physicians (AANP), Maine Association of Naturopathic Doctors (MAND), Midwives Alliance of North America (MANA), Maine Association of Certified Professional Midwives (MACPM), and International Lyme and Associated Diseases (ILADS).

Sarah lives with her husband, Jay and their two children, Aidan and EmaRae in Topsham. She enjoys gardening, tennis and playing in the outdoors in her spare time.

Dr. Mikaela Arredondo (Dr. A) - Naturopathic Doctor

Dr. A is a Naturopathic Doctor certified in Pelvic Floor Therapy as well as Arvigo Techniques of Maya Abdominal Massage. She is originally from Texas where she received her Bachelor’s in Biology/Pre-medicine and Psychology. Growing up in a Mexican-American household where traditional methods of healing were common, she knew she wanted to integrate this medicine into her future practice. After years of struggling with the conventional medical model, she has discovered more effective methods of treatment through her own healing journey, such as botanical medicine and natural therapies. She is thankful to have found the efficacious approach of Naturopathic Medicine and is proud to uphold its holistic principles.

During her studies at The National University of Naturopathic Medicine (NUNM), Dr. A also completed three years of Integrative Mental Health where she learned techniques focused on the mind-body connection. She enjoys combining all areas of medicine that she has learned over the years when treating patients. She also has a private Naturopathic practice in South Portland, Maine.

Dr. A lives in Gray with her partner and enjoys spending her time hiking, trail running, and supporting her favorite women’s soccer teams. After having lived in and traveled around the U.S., she is proud to call Maine her home!

Dr. Tara O’Brien - Naturopathic Doctor

Dr. Tara O’Brien graduated from Bastyr University in 2020 and went on to complete residency programs in Washington state focused on family and pediatric care. She is excited to have moved back to Maine to be closer to family and put down roots with her patients. Dr. O’Brien practices from a trauma informed and weight inclusive paradigm, she believes that the clinical experience itself can be medicine. Establishing your personally held definition of health and unpacking where this definition came from to move toward an understanding of your own bodily autonomy is her highest goal for you as her patient. She loves working with the entire family, infants to grandparents and is excited to bring Naturopathic care to your loved ones. She is currently seeing patients for yearly wellness visits, acute visits, and problem focused exams. Dr. O’Brien uses physical medicine, counseling, and botanical medicine as her primary modalities, but is well versed in and leans on many more in the clinical encounter.

Dr. O’Brien was raised in New England and transplanted to the west coast for school after working in agriculture post undergrad. In her spare time she can be found hiking, spending time in the pottery studio, and enjoying the New England coast with her family.

Taylor - Medical Assistant and Doula

Taylor is our Medical Assistant and Doula. She has a passion for children and families and loves to serve the community. She has always been interested in natural medicine since a child and began working with herbs at a young age. Taylor gained invaluable medical experience working in Guatemala and Hawaii in addition to her time with the hospitals in western Maine. As a home-birth doula, Taylor is passionate about empowering and educating women on just how beautiful a natural birth can be. It really lights the fire in her! She has so much love and compassion to give her mama’s. In her spare time Taylor can be found playing with teas and tinctures, exploring the outdoors, and spending time with her family. She was born and raised in Maine and graduated from Central Maine Community College.

Lorelei Paul - Front Desk Assistant and Certified Ozone Therapist
Lorelei is our front desk assistant and certified ozone therapist. Her fascination with natural healing methods is what drew her to Northern Sun over a decade ago. She had both of her beautiful children at home with Dr. Ackerly as her midwife and connected with the clinic so much, that she eventually began working as our front desk assistant. Through her own healing journey, she found profound recovery through ozone therapy and knew she found her calling. She now provides the innovative therapy of ozone to our patients.

When Lorelei is not at Northern Sun, she enjoys spending time in nature with her family, reading a good book, and enjoying the arts. She graduated from the University of Southern Maine with a bachelor’s degree in Communications and a minor in Holistic Health. She completed her ozone therapy training with Dr. Frank Shallenberger in Reno, Nevada.

Christine Coughlin - Phlebotomist
Christine grew up in Lisbon Falls and has always had an interest in naturopathic medicine. She has been working as a phlebotomist since 2005 between CMMC and MMC and is now working with our office on Wednesdays at Northern Sun. When she is not working, you can probably find her hiking the local trails with her dog, Molly, or working on a knitting project.
Sherry -Office Manager
Bio coming soon!