My Preceptors

Where I come from…

Madrona Bourdeau

Traditionally, new midwives learn in the apprenticeship model from experienced midwives, or preceptors. I am so grateful for my preceptors! I learned different gems of midwifery wisdom from each of these women, wisdom I hold and carry now. In addition to the women highlighted below, I’d like to honor Holly Scholles, midwife, President and main teacher at my school Birthingway College of Midwifery. Holly is an amazing woman and taught me so much about the physiology and wisdom of natural birth. She has since been available to have phone consults with me when complex situations arise. Thank you Holly!

Madrona was my first preceptor. I met her at the Oregon Midwifery Council in 2007, where I was immediately drawn to her bubbling laughter and rose tattoos. Luckily she was looking for an apprentice, and she gave me a chance. Madrona is a vibrant, bad ass midwife. She had her own home birth practice in Portland for almost 40 years, until she moved to Taos for a sunny retirement. Her depth of knowledge is extensive. Madrona's practice, A Woman’s Point of View Midwifery, was founded on the importance of individualized care. In addition to being a self employed midwife, Madrona was a single mother of two boys. She is a highly capable, tough, yet warm and approachable woman. Madrona trusts birth and is ready for anything. I deeply admire her strength, humor, and wisdom. She served a diverse clientele and met women where they were, without judgement. I learned how to have difficult conversations with friendly, disarming honesty. I also caught my first baby with her, and was awed at the miracle unfolding between my hands. Madrona empowered many women to have safe home births. What a gift. Thank you Madrona!

Hope Medford

Hope is a loving, compassionate midwife, artist, and musician. She cares deeply about mothers and babies, and women and pregnancy often weave their way into her songs and paintings. Hope teaches childbirth classes and drumming workshops. She is an incredibly multi-talented woman! She trained and worked in busy birth centers for many years before starting her own home birth practice. I danced to her drum beats before we ever spoke, and was overjoyed to be her apprentice. Hope brings her entire radiant self to her practice. She is enthusiastic, attentive and thorough in her midwifery care. She was happy to take extra time to make sure her clients were held in a good way. Hope brought laughter, song, strong clinical skills, deep compassion, and emotional connection to my learning. She is a wise woman. Hope is a highly skilled midwife dedicated to the well being of mothers and babies everywhere. She and Pamela were my midwives for the home birth of my first son, Atreya. Thank you Hope!

Pamela Echeverio

My Colleagues

Fellow midwives

Pamela is a beautiful, graceful, midwife with an easy welcoming laugh. Her confidence and poise foster comfort and trust. Pamela is highly intelligent, with an innate curiosity and thirst for knowledge. Her previous medical training as a nurse may account for her wonderful ability to remain calm and collected in emergency situations. I was quite grateful to learn this calm capable confidence even when a baby needed help breathing, or a mom was hemorrhaging. When I started apprenticing with Pamela in 2011, she had a midwifery practice called Partera (Spanish for midwife) with her partner Monica Wood. Pamela and Monica made a great team. Monica helped me learn how to talk about comfortably about finances and maintain appropriate loving boundaries. Pamela was my official preceptor, and the one I spent more time with. I honed my skills, tested my stamina, and learned how to carry myself as a primary midwife while under her caring wing. She is a delight to be around! I finished my midwifery training while working with her. Thank you Pamela!

I am blessed to work in an area with many skilled, compassionate midwives. The primary midwives I work with include Kristy Newell, Mischa Orbons (my former apprentice!), and Jae Rowan. I am grateful to fellow midwives of the Oregon Midwifery Council, especially here in our Southern region, for their support peer reviewing difficult cases. We are a sisterhood, and I am grateful.

I am happy to continue the midwifery lineage by sharing the knowledge I have gained from my own preceptors, studies, and experience. I pass this wisdom down to future midwives who apprentice with me. I am proud of my apprentices! While working with Three Sisters, Kristy Newell was our main apprentice, though I was not yet a registered preceptor. Kristy is now a caring, competent and thorough licensed midwife here in our valley.

After starting Blossoming Birth, midwife Shauna Kenealy and I developed a wonderful alliance where we shared back up on call support and an apprentice. Mischa Orbons was our first shared apprentice. Mischa apprenticed with me from 2015-2021 and brought her attentive presence and care to our practice. She is now a licensed midwife and has her own practice, Artemis Midwifery. She offers her professional, kind, and capable presence to her clients. Shauna has moved to California, and we miss her dearly.

Currently Anja Robinson is my apprentice. Anja is sweet, approachable, and smart. She has a rich background in herbs, nutrition, lymphatic wellness and women’s health that she brings to our practice. Anja also offers trained postpartum doula care, which is so helpful to new families. I am happy to be working with her!