Women's HealthcareThe Midwives
In 1983 Janet Grant, CNM opened the only nurse midwifery practice in Mesa County. She felt strongly that women should have the choice of a supporting skilled midwife as they begin their journey into motherhood. She practiced at Family Health West and St. Mary's Hospital for the first few years. The physicians of Women's Health Care of Western Colorado agreed to back her up in providing much needed family centered midwifery care in the Grand Valley.
After seven years of private practice, Cindy Busker, CNM joined the practice. They began delivering babies at Community Hospital's Birth Center and continued at St. Mary's Hospital's Family Birthplace. As the practice grew and more families came to experience the midwifery model of care, Ruth Ann Price, CNM and Annie Richardson, CNM also became members of Mesa Midwives.
The nurse midwives of Mesa Midwives have been a part of keeping birth in the Grand Valley an empowering experience for 27 years. Together, they have delivered over 12,000 babies on the Western Slope of Colorado. The ability to be “with women” has been enhanced with the opening of St. Mary's Hospital’s new Women and Children's Units, which include water birth and aromatherapy. Please come and meet the nurse midwives of Mesa Midwives.
I discovered my passion for midwifery when I was in college in 1971. I met a midwife from California and she taught me that birth is a normal part of a women's life and needs to be supported and encouraged. She inspired me to become a midwife and I started my studies in Boulder, CO, with Dr. Julie Carpenter. I loved the idea of being with women throughout the life process and especially during the miracle of birth.
Once I decided to become a nurse midwife, it couldn't happen fast enough for me. I graduated from Mesa State College in Grand Junction, CO, in 1979, and began working in Labor and Delivery at St. Mary's Hospital. I received my certificate in Nurse Midwifery from the University of Arizona in Tucson, AZ, in 1982.
I returned to Grand Junction and with the support of Dr. Stephen Meacham and the physicians at Women's Health Care of Western Colorado, began my practice. I delivered the first baby in the area "born into the gentle hands of a nurse midwife" in August of 1983. Since then, I have attended more than 5,200 births and every one is still special.
I have also worked hard to learn to communicate with women in Spanish. I love what I do and consider it a privilege to be able to support you in your journey to parenthood. I am so grateful and honored to be a midwife and to be included in this intimate moment in the life of a new family. Guiding a woman and her family through labor and seeing her emerge into motherhood triumphant brings me great peace and happiness.
I was privileged to deliver my sister's baby 17 years ago. My husband and I are proud and loving parents of our two crazy Standard Poodles, Cosmic Charlie and Scarlet Begonias.
I graduated from the University of Florida in 1974 with a Bachelor’s in Broadcast Journalism and decided I wanted to be a midwife. I’ve never looked back.
After completing a B.S. in Nursing at Florida State, I eventually went on to obtain a Master of Science in Nurse-Midwifery at the University of Utah.
I spent six years in Houston with the Baylor College of Medicine, at a large maternity hospital, Jefferson Davis, serving an immensely divergent population of women in a wonderful in-hospital birth center. It was there I met my partner, Ruth Ann Price.
Missing the Mountain West, I came to Grand Junction in 1989 and joined Janet Grant in her practice, creating Mesa Midwives.
I live minutes from the hospital with my husband, teenage son and dog, Gonzo. I believe in birth.
I have practiced midwifery since graduating from the Midwifery Education Program at the University of Southern California in 1984. Also having a Master’s Degree in Maternal Child Nursing, I have worked as a women’s health nurse-practitioner. Since then I have attended about 2,000 births.
I worked with Cindy Busker in Houston at Baylor College of Medicine in the mid 1980s. There we provided care to women in the Birth Center at Jefferson Davis Hospital and Harris County Clinics. We were both faculty in the Midwifery Education Program at Baylor.
I joined Mesa Midwives in 1991 after the birth of my daughter, Emily. My husband, Doug Stark, a retired veterinarian, and I have been married for 30 years. I’m a master gardener, fiber artist and owner of three cats and a large black Labrador Retriever.
I have always been a midwife. The first birth I attended was a litter of kittens. I was about eight years old and my best friend's cat went into labor late in the evening. I ran to her house, excited and a little scared about what I might witness. Let me tell you, my fear was minimal compared to the pure panic the cat experienced with two loud, obnoxious eight -year old girls chasing her around! One of the kittens was born while the mama cat was running from one room to another in order to escape the chaos. Animals instinctively know that in order to birth most effectively, they need to find a safe, quiet environment. After I witnessed the mother cat's sheer terror, I knew there had to be a better way to birth and vowed to become a guardian of normal birth.
In 1992, I was blessed with a baby girl who was born into the loving hands of my partner, Janet Grant, CNM. The midwives at Mesa Midwives provided compassionate, supportive and individualized care. After my birth, I felt empowered as a woman and a mother. This experience reaffirmed my call to midwifery.
I graduated from Colorado Mesa University in 1995 with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. I've spent the last fifteen years as a labor and delivery nurse first at St. Joseph's Hospital in Denver, CO then at St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Junction. My passion for birth carried me both to and through midwifery school. I graduated from the University of Colorado with a Master of Science in Nursing in 2011 and passed the national certification exam shortly thereafter.
I proudly joined Mesa Midwives in January 2012 and look forward to providing the women of the Grand Valley midwifery care for many years to come!