I was born in Michigan in 1951.  I was one of four children and I was raised in a suburb of Detroit.  I married my husband, Bruce, while we were college students in Lansing.  We moved to Las Vegas in 1974, when the population was less than 200,000 people in the whole valley.  Over the following 9 years we had 4 children, Rochelle, who is now 28, an engineer,  married to Dave, Matthew, who is now 26,  married to Kim,  Benjamin, who is now 22, a student at UNLV and my baby (he really hates it when I say that!!), Alex, who is now 19.  In October of 2001 I was privileged to be the midwife to my daughter-in-law Kim and assisted her in the birth of my sweet grandbaby, Jayden Matthew.  In March 2003 I assisted my daughter Shellie in the beautiful home birth of her son, Thomas David. 

When I was pregnant with my daughter, I was very concerned about how birth had become so medicalized.  Both of my grandmothers had had all their babies at home and my mother, though she did have hospital births, had easy and fast deliveries.   I was nervous that I would be forced to take drugs I didn't want or that something would be done to me without my permission.  Unfortunately there were no choices in Las Vegas at the time but an unattended home birth (not an option for me) or the hospital.   Fortunately, my hospital birth was not terrible.  There were a few things done that I felt was unnecessary, but for the most part my birth was short and easy.  When I was pregnant with my second baby, I had become involved in an organization call La Leche League.  At LLL meetings I met women who were having home births.  There was a group of doctors in town attending home births.  I met with the doctors and they agreed to let me have a home birth.  When I was close to my due date, the doctors stopped doing home births due to their insurance company demands.  I found myself back at the hospital.  Matt's was a lovely, easy birth.  We left the hospital after 6 hours and on the way home I knew I would have a home birth next time no matter what.

Baby number 3 took a few years and by then there were two women in Las Vegas attending home births.  They were midwives in training.  I approached them and not only did I have my baby with them, I began my midwifery training and apprenticeship. 

Over all, my midwifery education took about 3 years.  My education included: normal and abnormal pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum conditions, prenatal care, labor assisting, fetal monitoring, childbirth complications, infant resuscitation (including CPR), nutrition counseling, breast feeding counseling and early newborn care.

Of course, no midwifery education is ever "completed"!   So I continue to take courses and workshops as well as subscribe to the midwifery journals to stay informed of new information and research pertaining to pregnancy, labor and delivery, and the after birth care of the mother and baby.  The internet and computers have become a vital link in continuing education and I belong to several online education and research services as well as being in communication with hundreds of other midwives for information, consultations and support.

I was in the first group of midwives who received their CM (certified midwife) from the Nevada Midwives Association in 1990.

I have attended the births of over 1500 babies. In over 1400 of these births I was the primary caregiver. 

President of the Nevada Midwives Association

Member of the Midwives Alliance of North America

I believe that pregnancy, childbirth and breast feeding are normal and natural functions of a woman's body, mind and emotions.  The midwife's job is to assist the birthing couple in the journey through pregnancy, labor and birth by monitoring that natural process.  I also believe that childbirth is not an illness, but should be a family-centered event and that the midwife's role is to enhance, not usurp, the family's power of unity.