MIDWIVES

Our certificated Nurse-Midwives provide expert, personalized healthcare and support to women of all ages and backgrounds. They are trained in the two disciplines of nursing and midwifery, and are certified by The American College of Nurse-Midwives. In Massachusetts, Nurse-Midwives are licensed as advanced practice nurses and are authorized to write prescriptions.

Our midwives, many of whom are bicultural and bilingual, provide complete care throughout your pregnancy, labor and birth, including prenatal physical exams; lab work; individualized teaching; treatment of common health problems, referrals for amniocentesis and ultrasound; and natural childbirth.

You don't have to be pregnant to see a midwife! The Cambridge Midwives also provide well-woman care including annual GYN exams and pap smears; family planning; preconceptual counseling; safe sex counseling, and diagnosis and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases.

Leslie Ludka, CNM, MSN
Director of Midwifery
Director of CHA Cambridge Birth Center
Midwifery Education/Training: Yale University
Nursing Education/Training: Boston University
Certification: ACNM Nurse-Midwife

I have been a certified nurse-midwife since 1991. It has been my great honor to care for women and their families on the islands of Molokai, Hawaii, Bermuda and Martha's Vineyard, MA and on Native American reservations in Arizona, Montana and South Dakota. For nearly ten years I was a clinician and Director of Midwifery at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. Most recently I focused on policy and practice issues as Senior Practice Advisor at our national midwifery headquarters in Washington, DC. I'm thrilled to have returned home in June 2009 to join the amazing midwifery group here at CHA Cambridge Hospital and Birth Center.

The youngest of my 4 children was born at the Beverly Birth Center in 1982 and my first grandchild was welcomed into the world April, 2009 by the CHA Cambridge Midwifery practice. I live in Boston and spend my free time with family and friends.

Connie Breece, CNM, MSN
Education/Training: Yale University School of Nursing, Connecticut, MSN, Maternal Child Health, Nurse-Midwife
Certification: ACNM Nurse-Midwife

Since joining the Cambridge Midwives in 1988, I have served women at various office locations in the greater Boston area. I currently see patients at the Cambridge Birth Center. Prior to becoming a midwife, I was the Administrator/Teacher of an alternative girl's high school in Boston, and Director of Women's Education at MCI Framingham. I love my work as a midwife and teacher, and am particularly grateful for the chance to care for women from many different cultures and backgrounds. I am also a Certified Infant Massage Instructor and fluent in Spanish. I live in Jamaica Plain with my partner and my two beautiful daughters who teach me daily about the joys of being a parent.

Marylou Carr, CNM, MSN
Education/Training: Emory University
Certification: ACNM Nurse-Midwife

Phary Her, CNM, MSN
Education/Training: UMASS Amherst, University of Rhode Island
Certification: ACNM Nurse-Midwife

I emigrated to the US from Cambodia as a refugee, grew up in Rockland, MA and graduated from UMASS, Amherst with a BSN. I worked as a registered nurse in adult medical/surgical as well as labor and delivery.

I then decided to pursue midwifery and graduated from the University of Rhode Island with my MSN and certificate in Midwifery. I now see patients in the office at East Cambridge Health Center. My ability to speak Cambodian/Khmer allows me to care for the large Southeast Asian population in the Boston area. In my spare time, I enjoy the company of my family and outdoor activities.

Lara Holbrook, CNM, MSN
Education/Training: Yale University, Frontier School of Midwifery
and Family Nursing
Certification: ACNM Nurse-Midwife

Although a native of Washington, DC, I am now delighted to call Cambridge and the Cambridge Birth Center my home. I trained here as a student of the Frontier School of Midwifery and Family Nursing in 2003-2004 and I joined the practice as a staff midwife in 2008. This is a wonderful place to be a midwife and to receive care.

I did my undergraduate studies in International Politics at Yale, with a particular focus on international development and human rights. I lived and worked in Zimbabwe in health education and curriculum development, where I learned that I was most interested in providing direct, culturally competent, woman- and family-centered care. Upon my return, I trained as a doula and went to nursing school at the University of Pennsylvania, then practiced in Rhode Island for several years. After my preceptorial here, I worked in a hospital and birth center practice in DC, a demonstration project in the US ward that at one time had the worst pregnancy, maternal, and neonatal outcomes in the country. That group has been able to confirm that midwifery care is not only appropriate for, but is particularly well-suited to, women at high social and economic risk. My interest in serving the needs of the underserved continues. In 2008, I volunteered as a midwife and midwife educator in Ghana and I intend to continue to work abroad as I am able.

In my leisure, I love to travel, sail, and run with a very silly athletic club. In addition to the above, I have lived in Sydney, New York City, Oakland, and Alexandria. I've been accused of being a nomad, but I believe I'm here to stay!

I'm grateful that you took this time to try to learn a bit more about me. I look forward to serving you and your family in the future.

Ellen Lapowsky, CNM, MSN
Education/training: University of Arizona, MSN.
Certification: ACNM Nurse-Midwife

I graduated from the University of Arizona Midwifery Program in 1985. It seems hard to believe that I have been a midwife for 25 years. I can honestly say that I still love my work. What I find most fulfilling is building lasting relationships with women and their families, and helping women to create the birth experience they desire. And of course, catching babies is still a thrill!

Cambridge Hospital hired me in 1992 as the Director of the Midwifery Service, a position that I held for 7 years. I am proud to be one of the founders of the Cambridge Birth Center, the Boston area's first urban out of hospital birth center. I am a strong believer in out of hospital birth and providing birth options.

Becoming a mother in 2001 after working as a midwife for so many years was an amazing experience. However, I struggled with breastfeeding. This was especially humbling because I had assisted new mothers to nurse for so long. I learned that life is not always as we expect. Since the birth of my son, I became a lactation consultant (IBCLC). I am now better able to help women who struggle as I did. I now work part time, which suits my life style, allowing me to be a midwife, and still have time to spend time with my son.

Maureen McSwiggin, CNM, MSN
Education/Training: University of Rhode Island
Certification: ACNM Nurse-Midwife

Joyce Nichols, CNM, MSN
Educational/training: St Louis University School of Nursing, 1979 BSN: Georgetown University School of Nursing 1987 MSN Nurse-Midwifery.
Certification: ACNM Nurse-Midwife

My interest in midwifery began in nursing school when I witnessed a "natural" delivery with a woman using the then new Lamaze training. At that time, husbands were not allowed in the room unless they had the "Lamaze paper." I have since seen the evolution of women's health and maternity care run the gamut of totally "natural" with full family participation in all aspects of care, to the acceptance of modern technology and procedures and everything in between. Central to this has been family education and facilitating the family's desired birth experience, whether "natural" or high-tech.
Becoming a midwife has been a natural extension of labor and delivery nursing. I've worked with immigrant women in the Bronx, private patients in New England and am now happy to be with the Cambridge Midwives at the Birth Center and Cambridge Hospital. The midwives provide a wonderful combination of services and patient education for a culturally and philosophically diverse population. This is the best of both worlds.

Laurie Ososky, CNM, MSN
Education/Training: Columbia University; New England School of Homeopathy. Certification: ACNM Nurse-Midwife

Born at home, delivered by a local doctor in a small Pennsylvania town, I feel I was destined to become a midwife! But, it wasn't until much later that I studied midwifery and healing at Columbia University. As a certified nurse-midwife, I have delighted in the joy of attending births first at Quincy Hospital and now at the Cambridge Birth Center and Cambridge Hospital. I have studied and practiced homeopath and herbal formulary for our midwifery practice.