Meet the Midwives

Roslyn Burmood, CPM, LDM

Kourtney Hanks, CNM, FNP

My path to midwifery was a little bit different than my friend Roslyn’s. This is one of the things I love about midwifery. We all have stories and lives before midwifery and somehow those stories came together in such a way that we are called to do this beautiful, incredible, and hard work of midwifery.

I studied nutrition in my undergrad, primarily because it had all of the prerequisites for nursing or medicine. During an internship I had a family doctor encourage me to look into midwifery and I quickly fell into the hole of exploring every path to midwifery, reading every blog and book about midwives that I could get my hands on. In the year that followed my cousin invited me to support her during labor, which was the first in a series of life changing moments that propelled me toward midwifery. I was struck by a strength and tenacity that I had never seen her. She worked hard and she had a baby- a real live person! It was a moment where I craved to know and understand more about labor, birth, and the female body. Shortly after my first birth experience I went to India, where I was struck by the poor treatment of women and especially women in labor. I came home with a desire to do the work of supporting women with a goal of enriching the lives of all of the women that I come across.

Ultimately, I decided that I would take the Certified Nurse Midwife route. I completed my education at Vanderbilt University becoming a Certified Nurse Midwife and a Family Nurse Practitioner. After graduating I moved back to Oregon and joined a new birth center practice, Corvallis Birth and Women’s Health Center. It has been an incredible experience to spread my wings as a midwife in a practice that was also just getting its start. During the process I have had the pleasure of having a great mentor. I also discovered my passion for teaching student midwives.

Roslyn was my first student and I got great joy out of seeing her learn new skills and become a midwife. I am so excited to begin this podcast with Roslyn and to create a new way to study midwifery.

Before entering the birth world, I earned a B.S. in Management and spent 17 years working in business and technology. In 2010, I felt called to midwifery and began learning as much as I could about the subject by reading many different books, websites, and blogs. I considered taking a leap of faith to pursue this great calling: Being with women and witnessing the birth of a child and the creation of family.

In the spring of 2013 I participated in a Dining for Women travel program to Indonesia that changed my Life! In Indonesia, I met incredible women. They were living their dreams to help others by creating and managing birth centers and medical clinics in rural and poverty stricken areas. From that experience, I was inspired to take the leap, quit my job, and start pursuing my dream of becoming a midwife. In August 2013, I attended a doula workshop, and during that summer and fall I completed midwifery pre-requisite courses. In January 2014, I began apprenticing at a birth center, working towards becoming a Certified Professional Midwife via the NARM PEP process. I attended The Matrona to supplement my clinical experience and self-study.

I earned my CPM and Oregon Direct-Entry Midwifery license in 2017. In 2018, I worked at a busy birth center and then decided to take another leap and started a small home birth practice, Shine Midwifery.

My path to becoming a midwife was not straight-forward, and I have spent untold hours researching the different routes to becoming a midwife in the United States. I ultimately decided on the PEP process. When it came time to really get serious about studying for the test, I was very frustrated by the lack of study material for the NARM exam. Midwife friends repeatedly told me with solid clinical experience I would do fine on the test. I 100% agree with that. I also can empathize as a student looking to take the test; that just isn't reassuring enough. The test is expensive, there is a lot on the line, and it is understandable to want to be as prepared as possible when it comes test day.

While studying for the test, I decided that I was going to offer something different to student midwives. A Midwife Life is the creation of that intention. I am so excited that I will co-hosting this podcast and site with my dear friend Kourtney Hanks, CNM, FNP. This broadens the scope of topics we will be covering and better supports student midwives. It is my sincere hope that you find this a useful resource on your path of living and breathing this crazy adventure of a midwife life.

While creating this space, my vision has expanded to include new midwives. The transition from student to midwife is a journey in and of itself. It can be a challenge to find your voice and practice style; to make that transition from student to confident midwife handling all sorts of different situations. My dream is that Midwife Life will become a thriving community, here to support and connect with you. I love midwives that are willing to share what they are doing and so this is my little piece to share with you.

About: Homepage_about