Midwifery Online Course(s) & Continuing Education

Dr. Britta Bushnell (she/her) is author of Transformed by Birth, host of the podcast Transformed, veteran childbirth educator, celebrated speaker, mythologist, wife and mother, and specialist in childbirth, relationship, and parenting. For over 20 years, Dr. Bushnell has worked with individuals and couples as they prepare for the life-changing experience of giving birth. Her work with parents has been enriched by her doctoral work in mythology and psychology, her years spent as a co-owner of Birthing From Within, as well as her dedicated study of solution-focused brief therapy, storytelling, and skills for supporting intimate relationships while parenting.

Britta is an engaging teacher, speaker, and presenter. Whether addressing a room of expectant parents, new mothers, or seasoned birth professionals, Britta has a way of captivating and inspiring them all. She has presented at conferences such as DONA International, MANA, ICEA, and Lamaze. Additionally, Britta has been featured on several popular podcasts including Informed Pregnancy, Birthful, and Atomic Moms. In 2016, in recognition of her transformative childbirth classes, Britta was awarded "Educator of the Year" by the Southern California Doula Association (DASC).

CNM Ximena Rojas Garcia is a Midwife and licensed Obstetric Nurse from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, she comes from a line of traditional midwives. Ximena has 15 years of experience in her field and as a Midwifery Professor, she has certifications in Obstetrical Emergencies, Neonatal Resuscitation, Water birthing and Acupuncture. Ximena founded "Partería y Medicinas Ancestrales," the only Mexican Midwifery NGO that includes Midwives from all paths and programs, which was instrumental in providing maternal health access during the humanitarian crisis after the arrival of thousands of asylum seekers from Haiti, Congo and Central America to the US-Mexico border.

Ximena has been collaborating with Stanford University's Obstetricians, Gynecologists and Pediatricians to train Midwives and Health providers at the US San Diego-Tijuana border to improve birth outcomes. She organizes direct relief to support trauma recovery responding to crises and disasters as a member of Acupuncturists Without Borders. Ximena also created a Doula training program, responsible for training more than 300 Doulas in Mexico, Colombia and Guatemala, aimed at eradicating obstetric violence, lowering the frequency of unnecessary c-sections, and decreasing maternal and newborn mortality.

Ximena is one of the founders and co-directors of Refugee Health Alliance and currently practices clinically at Justicia en Salud RHA Sexual & reproductive health free clinic. She established the first free birth center in Baja California, Mexico that serves vulnerable populations including displaced migrants, asylum seekers, deportees, sexual assault survivors, black, brown and indigenous families who historically had faced forced sterilizations, higher maternal death and newborn death. Her philosophy of birth is: Birth is a unique experience like a ceremony that heals trauma and the next generations when we hold space for it to happen.

Kathleen Kendall-Tackett is a health psychologist and International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, and the Owner and Editor-in-Chief of Praeclarus Press, a small press specializing in women's health. Dr. Kendall-Tackett is Editor-in-Chief of two peer-reviewed journals: Clinical Lactation and Psychological Trauma. She is Fellow of the American Psychological Association in Health and Trauma Psychology and Past President of the APA Division of Trauma Psychology. Dr. Kendall-Tackett specializes in women's-health research including breastfeeding, depression, trauma, and health psychology, and has won many awards for her work including the 2017 President’s Award for Outstanding Service to the Field of Trauma Psychology from the American Psychological Association’s Division of Trauma Psychology. Dr. Kendall-Tackett has authored more than 460 articles or chapters and is author or editor of 38 books.

Kathleen Kendall-Tackett is a health psychologist and International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, and the Owner and Editor-in-Chief of Praeclarus Press, a small press specializing in women's health. Dr. Kendall-Tackett is Editor-in-Chief of two peer-reviewed journals: Clinical Lactation and Psychological Trauma. She is Fellow of the American Psychological Association in Health and Trauma Psychology and Past President of the APA Division of Trauma Psychology. Dr. Kendall-Tackett specializes in women's-health research including breastfeeding, depression, trauma, and health psychology, and has won many awards for her work including the 2017 President’s Award for Outstanding Service to the Field of Trauma Psychology from the American Psychological Association’s Division of Trauma Psychology. Dr. Kendall-Tackett has authored more than 460 articles or chapters and is author or editor of 38 books.

Augustine is an internationally recognized midwifery educator, experienced business executive, and veteran midwife with a heart focused on the underserved, marginalized, and under-resourced. She respects the importance of being empowered and undisturbed during labor, and balances this attention to the sacred with 20+ years experience attending births in hospitals, birth centers, and homes in rural, urban and suburban environments in the US and abroad. Augustine’s focus is finely attuned to the process of letting go and opening to the unknown in labor and in life. Additionally, Augustine has a master’s degree from Bastyr University in Seattle, WA where she majored in Maternal/Child Health Systems.

Her life's mission is to mainstream midwifery and deconstruct the culture of fear and misinformation that surrounds the maternity world globally. To that end, Augustine 'midwife's the midwife' through her many education programs, consulting services, product development, podcasts and video production, business site visits, and with private coaching services for midwives, students, maternity practice owners, & birth center administrators through her consulting firm, The Midwifery Wisdom Collective. It is her profound honor to illuminate the sacred path to joyful and sustainable midwifery practice. She lives and works in India.

Lashea has been practicing in the area of obstetrical/perinatal nursing for nearly 26 years. Her clinical and educational experience and expertise span labor/delivery, antepartum and mother/baby areas. Lashea has worked as a board-certified clinical nurse specialist for women’s services at a large healthcare system, she was a nursing instructor and a previous perinatal outreach educator. These roles allowed her the ability to provide continual high-risk perinatal education to various hospitals and to reach audiences across her region. This has led to her current role and success as founder and owner of her own nursing mentoring and education consulting company Perinatal Potpourri. She is also a Designated Instructor Trainer in Fetal Monitoring and Obstetric Patient Safety through AWHONN. Lashea holds two certifications through NCC and currently provides in-services and seminars nationally for Inpatient OB and EFM reviews, respectively.

​In addition to being an active AWHONN member, Lashea was recently elected as the Vice Chair of the AWHONN Section Advisory Committee. She was appointed to this position because of her activism and success as the 2-term elected Georgia section chair. LaShea was appointed as the lead for Georgia in the AWHONN Postpartum Hemorrhage & Empowering Women projects. She was selected as the lead facilitator in the state of Georgia to assist with the rising rate of maternal deaths because she has successfully moved her region to become more active with lectures, networking, and current trends. Lashea’s expertise in this area is demonstrated in her most recent honor, AWHONN's highest honor the Distinguished Professional Service Award Winner of 2022 and The Award of Excellence in Education, respectively. It's also noteworthy to mention she has won the March of Dimes 2018 Georgia Nurse of the Year Award and the 2015 AWHONN Award of Excellence in Community Service. She is an energetic speaker, whose goal is to fully engage the audience in her presentations, leaving them excited and ready to learn more.

Kristin Kali, LM CPM is a midwife, teacher, writer, speaker, trainer and consultant specializing in LGBTQ family building and gender inclusivity. Kristin is a warm and engaging presence, delivering professionalism and expertise with a down-to-earth, personable style. Kristin is an authoritative resource on LGBTQ healthcare during conception and pregnancy, functional approaches to fertility, and midwifery model preconception care.

Kristin is the owner of MAIA Midwifery and Fertility Services, internationally renowned for LGBTQ family building expertise. In addition to providing preconception care via telemedicine to families across the globe, Kristin provides midwifery care, home insemination, classes and support groups in Seattle, WA. You can read more about MAIA services, download webinars, access professional training, and purchase fertility related products at MAIA Midwifery & Fertility.

Dr. Breedlove is a past president of the American College of Nurse-Midwives. In 2017 she formed a consulting company, Grow Midwives LLC, to educate Physicians and Hospitals and support Midwives in the design and scaling of best practices in collaborative care models. Prior to consulting she was on faculty 17 years as Professor of Nursing and Midwifery at Shenandoah University and University of Kansas School of Nursing. She co-founded the first free-standing birthing center in Topeka, Kansas in 1979, the first Midwife service in Kansas City, Missouri in 1994, and established the University of KS Midwifery program in 1999. In 2016 she co-founded March for Moms with Dr. Neel Shah and has served as President three years. March for Moms is a new non-profit organization working to align and coordinate the efforts of families, healthcare providers, policymakers and other partners acting to achieve the best possible health and well-being of all mothers. In 2019 over 40 stakeholders joined for the third national rally on the Washington DC Mall. In 2018 Dr. Breedlove edited and launched a book for first-time parents navigating the first six weeks of pregnancy titled, Nobody Told Me About That!

Carol Nelson LM, CPM
Ida Darragh LM, CPM
Shannon Anton LM, CPM
Debbie Pulley CPM
Kim Pekin CPM

Maggie is a nurse, educator, and writer.
She began her nursing career in 2009 and has since practiced in hospitals and communities nationwide, primarily in labor and birth environments. Maggie maintains a bedside practice at a community hospital in Pennsylvania, in addition to her non-profit work as Founding Executive Director of Your BIRTH Partners.
Maggie is currently pursuing her PhD in Nursing and loves educating, mentoring, and learning alongside other nurses. Her research interests are trauma-informed care, secondary traumatic stress, trauma-responsive work environments, and nurse identity. She has always enjoyed writing, both through blogs and in scholarly environments. Much of her recent pursuits have focused on authoring a transformational memoir and contributing to academic journals.
Her advocacy focuses on improving perinatal care in hospital environments through trauma-informed care and community collaboration. When she's not dreaming up good trouble with other changemakers, she's doing yoga, reading a book, traveling, indulging in delicious food, soaking in fresh air outside, or hanging with her awesome partner and kids.