Deren Bader, CPM, DrPH

When I think about my path to midwifery I get really nostalgic. Like many women my first experience with midwifery was meeting a midwife. I was a young college student in 1985 when this chance encounter occurred. From this midwife I learned what a midwife was and how midwifery care stood in stark contrast to standard obstetrical care. It is fair to say I was hooked immediately. I can’t really describe it but all of the other plans I had made for myself went out the window. From that moment forward I knew that I would be a midwife.

So at the ripe old age of 22 I started my training as a midwife. At the time I carefully considered the options available to me. I could have gone to a Nurse-Midwifery program and become a CNM or I could be an apprentice midwife and become a direct-entry midwife (DEM, there was no such thing as a Certified Professional Midwife then). When I evaluated both options what I learned was that most CNMs attend hospital births and DEMs attend home births. I felt strongly pulled to home birth so the decision to become a DEM was fairly easy.

In 1986 I was living in northern Massachusetts and there were many DEMs and home births happening. I was close to the New Hampshire state border where DEMs were licensed and there was a clear educational and training path for DEMs. I chose to study and apprentice with a NH licensed midwife. I spent two years doing class work, prenatal care, births and postpartum care with this and other midwives. I eventually met the requirements for licensure in NH. However, still being a young woman without children of my own I decided that I was not ready to assume the mantle of midwife. I decided to go to El Paso, Texas to do some more training. There was a new birth center there called Maternidad La Luz. This center is still operating today and over the years has turned into an accredited midwifery school as well.

The birth center was a very busy place, caring for many women with about 50 births a month. I was a student midwife there and eventually a primary midwife. I met the requirements for licensure and became an El Paso permitted midwife in January 1989. I enjoyed my time in El Paso and learned not just the skills of a midwife, but about ‘being a midwife’.

Wanting to start a family of our own my husband (yes, I dragged him to El Paso) and I moved back to Massachusetts. I opened my first home birth practice with two other wonderful midwives. The practice we founded in late 1989, River Valley Midwives, is still there with midwives attending home births.

I became a mother for the 1st time in 1990 with the home birth of my daughter.

My family and I left Massachusetts for my husband to attend graduate school in Birmingham, Alabama. We spent 11 years in Birmingham where I had a very successful home birth practice. I have wonderful stories to tell from my time in Alabama and I have been known to share them at births where talking sometimes fills the gap between contractions. A few years into our time in Alabama I had a son, also born at home.

I was busy raising two children and attending home births when in 1996 I decided to go to graduate school and earn a degree in Public Health (I know it sounds crazy to me as well). I did earn that graduate degree but what I thought would be a masters degree turned into a doctoral degree. I am a Doctor of Public Health with expertise in Maternal & Child Health. I taught at the University of Alabama, School of Public Health, courses in Maternal & Child Health and Perinatal Epidemiolgy (I don’t strike most people as the professorial type so don’t be surprised when you meet me). I also worked at the state level in Public Health, doing Infant Mortality Review and implementing and evaluating a new Medicaid family planning program.

In 1996, I was among the first group of experienced DEMs in North America to become a CPM.

On the move again, my family moved to Charlottesville in June 2001. I quickly became involved in midwifery politics and worked to help pass the 2005 CPM licensure bill.  I continue to work increasing awareness and understanding of home birth and the CPM credential at the Virginia Board of Medicine where I have been a member of the Midwifery Advisory Board since 2006.

In 2002 Brynne Potter and I started a home birth practice.  Together we have attended hundreds of births and worked to create a supportive environment for home birth in Charlottesville. We feel very fortunate to have built relationships with many wonderful providers allowing us to provide the best of midwifery and medicine to pregnant women.

My third child, a daughter was born at home in 2003. I have been married to a wonderful man for 25 years. He is a physician and researcher primarily caring and advocating for children with severe neurological disorders.

Since starting my training 1986 I have continually attended home births with the exception of a short hiatus in 1991 and in 2001. To date I have attended around 800 births at home.

You can read more of my thoughts and experiences as a midwife at The Midwife Monologues.

Contact Deren at deren@mountainviewmidwives.com