About Our Faculty
Rita Aparicio, (DEM, LLL Leader, IBCLC, CCE, CLE, CLMA, CD) Rita has been a midwife since 1984. She studied at the Santa Fe Midwifery School, and The Maternity Center in El Paso, Texas. She has trained traditional midwives in underdeveloped countries with Inciativa Comunitaria de P.R. Rita is also a licensed as a Paramedic with the Puerto Rico Health Department. She has trained over 500 people in her roles as a lactation consultant for the WIC program in Puerto Rico. She is the founder of Doula Caribe en Puerto Rico through which she has trained and certified over 400 doulas. Rita is the past Chairwoman of two important lactation coalitions in Puerto Rico. Her passion is the time she spends with her family, especially her 20 and 14 year-old daughters; her husband of 27 years, Jeff, is an archaeologist in the Regional Office of the Forest Service. Rita and family came to Portland in the Fall of 2009, and are enjoying the change immensely and is very enthusiastic about becoming member of the faculty of Birthingway.
Kimberly Bepler, (ICPE, PCD, CPD, CLE) instructor for our Postpartum Doula Training Workshop, has been working with postpartum families for over 9 years, and has a passion for the newborn and the new family. She founded ABC Doula Service in 2001, and has seen the company grow to a dozen doulas serving over 450 families in the Portland metro area. One of her passions is babywearing, and you can often find her helping families find their way in carrying and wearing their children (sometimes several at a time!) In addition to her postpartum work, Kimberly also teaches breastfeeding and newborn care classes within the Providence Health System, and at Zenana Spa, and is a faculty doula trainer for CAPPA. She resides in Wilsonville with her husband of 15 years, and a lively son (Ariah, 9) and busy daughter (Kaielle, 4) that keep her humble.
Mindy Cash, N.D., M.S.O.M., L.Ac. is a holistic primary care physician with a passion for teaching. Her many courses at Birthingway that include Chinese Medicine, Nutrition, and the Botanicals series are taught from a dynamic perspective spanning modern and traditional medical science. She utilizes this holistic spectrum in her private practice as a doctor of naturopathic and Chinese medicine through Health Roots Natural Medicine where she provides individualized health care. Mindy and her partner Ann are mothers to twin boys (born Halloween 2007) and spend most of their time practicing attachment parenting. They are devoted to sustainable business and lifestyle practices and enjoy an organic medicinal herb garden.
Kathryn Constant, MLS, has been working in the library field for over 15 years. She brings a peaceful spirit to our library and is gentle, kind, and greatly compassionate towards our students. As the only midwifery-specific librarian in the country, she strives to make our library live up to it's full potential. Kathryn also teaches Understanding Statistics in Medical Literature, Research Methods and acts as a student research consultant. She is known for making statistics and research user-friendly and very do-able. Kathryn draws rave reviews for her Birth Stories in Life and Literature course.
Mia Crupper, ND, LMT is a naturopathic physician, naturopathic midwife, doula and licensed massage therapist. She practices family medicine with her husband, Michael, at The Gift of Life Clinic in the heart of Portland's Hollywood neighborhood. She teaches Microbiology and Microbiology Skills at Birthingway as well as Patient Practice Management 1, Gynecology lab and GU lab at WSCC. Her teaching philosophy is to be an advisor who presents information and offers a mirror that reflects students personal self-discovery and growth. In her spare time she enjoys gardening, snowboarding, knitting and cooking.
Pamela Echeverio, mother, grandmother, CPM, LDM, teaches Pharmacology, Postpartum, Suturing and our Pelvic Floor Health with Jennifer Warnock. Pamela has been involved with homebirth since 1977 when her 1st child was born at home. She was a doula until 2000 when she started at Birthingway, graduating in 2004. She co-founded Alma Midwifery and left this year to start a private practice.
Adrienne Fuson, IBCLC, LMT, CD, brings more than eleven years of birth doula experience to her position as Birthingway's Labor Doula course teacher. She has a bachelor's degree with Phi Betta Kappa honors in Psychology and Women's Studies from Oberlin College. With almost nine years as a licensed massage therapist and almost ten years as a lactation specialist, Adrienne brings a variety of techniques for supporting clients before, during and after their births. Adrienne is also a mother of beautiful, busy young children. Her family enjoys fostering the occasional litter of puppies or kittens from the Humane Society and puttering in the garden.
Heather Hack, CPM, LDM has come full circle in the Birthingway community. She began teaching Infancy classes several years ago only to then become a student, a graduate, a midwife, and now a teacher again! She now teaches Postpartum Skills and Infancy. She lives with her two amazing children and enjoys knitting, playing board games, singing karaoke, eating sushi, listening to music, and going to concerts in between attending births and appointments.
Ann Holland, N.D., M.S.O.M., L.Ac. is a Naturopathic physician and licensed acupuncturist who practices family medicine at Health Roots Natural Medicine. She teaches Botany and Plant Medicine at Birthingway, and has also taught Chinese herbs at the National College of Naturopathic Medicine. She loves to share her passion about plants and strives to make her courses hands-on and down-to-earth. She and her partner Mindy keep busy raising their twin sons Reed and Finn.
Amy B Johnson, ND, teaches Physical Assessment I and Physical Assessment II. She has a home naturopathic practice called Blue House Holistic Health. Her emphasis with her patients is getting them healthy enough to care for themselves needing her only for tune ups and major life events. Education, life style enhancements, nutrition, botanical medicine and classical homeopathy are her primary modalities. The past few years have had her busy building an urban healing center where there are wellness classes, mediation groups, urban camp retreats and cleanse programs. In her free time, she enjoys nature; gardening, hiking, and camping.
Celeste Kersey, BA, CPM, LDM is passionate about living consciously. Teaching Introduction to Communication Theory, Communication with Integrity courses and facilitates NVC workshops courses, Celeste is a perpetual student of Nonviolent Communication, Midwifery and Motherhood. She has been transformed by her own births in 1991 (Naomi), 1994 (Faith), 1995 (Olivia), and 2000 (Isaac). She began her path to midwifery in October, 1993 in Detroit, MI. She found her way to Oregon in 1994 after marrying an organic farmer (Jim) from Canby, OR. She attended Birthingway College of Midwifery and apprenticed with a patient and generous midwife near Salem, OR in between birthing a few of her own babies. She is part of Northwest Community Midwives in Portland and has her own business, Full Moon Midwifery in Canby. Her life is enriched by close friendships, personal growth, family, humor, and tropical vacations.
Bonnie McAnnis, BA is a licensed massage therapist in private practice who instructs our students in Massage for Midwives. Bonnie also teaches Human Anatomy & Physiology which is a prerequisite for entrance into the school. Because Bonnie has been with Birthingway and in fact was a member of the first class, she provides a great introduction to our educational system.
Carrie McCormick, (MPH, DEM) Carrie was with the first group of women in the “living room study group” which eventually evolved into Birthingway. She has had many incarnations within the Birthingway community: Student, instructor, faculty, board member, guest speaker, and vein-lender for IV practice! Carrie is a midwife and has an MPH focusing on international maternal/child health. Over the past 15 years she has worked with many Portland area midwives as well as living and working in Africa, Eastern Europe and the Middle East. She will be teaching International Midwifery Fall Term 2010.
Jennifer Means, N.D. is a naturopathic physician, licensed acupuncturist and teaches our Homeopathy course. Jennifer is a devoted mother and balances work and family with inspiring grace. She is dedicated to living simply and nurturing strong people who will care for this planet and each other. Jennifer is another of our educators who has been with Birthingway for many years bringing dedication and creativity to her instruction.
Susan Moray, CPM, LDM. Susan's calling to conscious birthing began in the mid 1970's at the homebirth of a friend. She started by teaching Bradley classes, then Birthing from Within and taught for 20 years. Susan attended Birthingway and was its first graduate in 1996 at which time her homebirth practice, Northwest Community Midwives was begun. She is currently teaching Running a Midwifery Practice. She has also held many positions in the Oregon Midwifery Council as well as has been Press Officer for MANA for 8 years. Her most rewarding role is as mother to her two homeborn daughters, Skylar and Polly, born in 1987 and 1990.
Cari Nyland, ND, teaches Plant Medicine series, Other Modalities and Homeopathy. She is a naturopath and practices in Portland Oregon.
Sara Ohgushi, ND, LM, was led to her work with families as a primary care naturopathic physician and midwife through her children, Asumi born reluctantly but naturally in a hospital in 1989, and Genta born gently at home in 1991. While volunteering as a La Leche League Leader she continued questioning the mainstream medical model which led to seeing a Naturopath and then gradually realizing the dream of becoming one! As the kids were bigger by then she was delighted to succumb to the calling of midwifery as well. In addition to caring for families, Sara enjoys cats, her kids, biking, yoga, singing and walks with her husband Mikio and friends. She has lived in Japan, is fluent in Japanese and enjoys teaching Birthingway students the basics of the language of Medical Terminology.
Rhonda Ray, BA, CPM recently retired from an active midwifery practice which began in 1979. She soon began teaching Prenatal Skills as well as being hired as the Student Affairs Coordinator at Birthingway. Rhonda has been described as “embodied love” and her students attest to the compassion, commitment, and dedication she brings to her vocation. Rhonda has two daughters, Freya and Hopi. They are now free birds that have both flown away, so Rhonda lives in her empty nest with her fabulous husband, Robert. She is so happy to be doing midwifery-related work and to have baby-midwife birds to nurture along their way.
Nichole Reding, MA is a Childbirth Educator and Birthingway certified Labor Doula. She teaches the Childbirth Educator Training Workshop, Midwifery Culture, International Midwifery and Ethics here at Birthingway. She has a BA in history and political science and a Masters Degree in American History. Nichole is also the Specialized Programs Coordinator at Birthingway and loves to talk to everyone about our Labor Doulas, Childbirth Education, Lactation Consultants and instrumental in the development of Birthingway's Breastfeeding Center. With her open personality and her ability to be gracious under pressure she is not only an excellent instructor, but the face of hospitality here at Birthingway. Nichole has two lovely girls 11 and 8. She loves the Beatles, chocolate, motherhood, cooking and gardening, and now she knits too!
Holly Scholles, MA, CPM, LDM is a midwife with a tiny practice as well as an anthropologist specializing in human reproduction and medical anthropology. Holly is both founder and president of Birthingway College of Midwifery. She teaches Antepartum, Intrapartum, Complex Situations I and II, Physchosocial Issues and Practice Protocols.
Martha von Reis, MS, CD grew up in the woods of Northern California to home birthing parents, but never considered that birth would become such a passion until after the home birth of her first daughter. Martha moved to Portland to get her BA in Biology from Reed College. After finishing her Master of Science Degree from OSU and having her first of two children, she began to pursue her interest in birth by training as a doula at Birthingway. She was certified as a birth doula in the Fall of 2009 and she is now combining her passion for birth and her background in science as our Human Genetics instructor. She, her two daughters, and her husband enjoy gardening,cooking, hiking, and kayaking.
Dixie Whetsell, MS, IBCLC has her Masters in Community Health Education, and is a Board Certified Lactation Consultant. She has been working with breastfeeding families since 1992. She has experience providing home visits, working in a hospital setting, and providing lactation training for a variety of health care professionals. She teaches a number of the Breastfeeding courses, and has co-directed the development of Birthingway's Free Breastfeeding Center and Lactation Program. She is also an active member of the Nursing Mothers Counsel of Oregon, Northwest Mothers Milk Bank, the Oregon Washington Lactation Association, and the International Lactation Consultant Association. Dixie is a dedicated professional working for the improvement of women's and children's lives especially in undeserved communities.