What is a Midwife?
A midwife is a trained healthcare professional who is able to provide comprehensive maternity care and management of birth for pregnant persons that are low-risk. Midwives fully understand the normalcy of pregnancy and birth, and are educated and trained to recognize variations from normal, and to intervene when medically necessary. Prenatally, midwives are able to perform necessary lab work and can provide referrals as needed for ultrasound or consultation with a physician. In Washington State, midwives are licensed by the department of health and are able to carry all medications necessary for handling emergencies, oxygen, IV fluids, antibiotics for use in labor, and routine newborn medications. Additionally, they are trained in CPR and Neonatal Resuscitation.
Families planning to have their baby with True North Birth Center will be cared for by our midwifery team: Ashley Jones LM, CPM, MSM, Holly Campbell LM, CPM, MSM, Melanie Dickson LM, CPM,
and Miranda Wentlandt, LM, CPM, MSM.
They enjoy excellent working relationships with local family medicine physicians and obstetricians, laborist physicians and nursing staff providing 24/7 hospital back up at St. Michael Medical Center, Silverdale, Northwest Family Medicine,CHI Franciscan and University of Washington Maternal Fetal Medicine physicians, and expert perinatal medicine teams in Gig Harbor, Tacoma, and Bellevue. True North Birth Center prides itself on an approach which blends the very hands-on, high touch, low-tech wisdom of midwifery with ready access to specialist medical assistance when necessary.
and Miranda Wentlandt, LM, CPM, MSM.
They enjoy excellent working relationships with local family medicine physicians and obstetricians, laborist physicians and nursing staff providing 24/7 hospital back up at St. Michael Medical Center, Silverdale, Northwest Family Medicine,CHI Franciscan and University of Washington Maternal Fetal Medicine physicians, and expert perinatal medicine teams in Gig Harbor, Tacoma, and Bellevue. True North Birth Center prides itself on an approach which blends the very hands-on, high touch, low-tech wisdom of midwifery with ready access to specialist medical assistance when necessary.
Meet Our Midwives
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Ashley Jones LM, CPM, MSM
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Holly Campbell LM, CPM, MSMA Kitsap native, Holly Campbell, LM CPM MSM practiced as a Licensed Mental Health Counselor before returning to birth work. She obtained a Masters of Science in Midwifery from Bastyr University in 2015 and completed her clinical training at Treasure Valley Birth Center in Boise, ID and local home birth practice Gumnut Blossom Midwifery. Holly also has a Master of Arts in Psychology and her passion for travel is fueled by her undergraduate degree in Anthropology.
Holly’s experience as a mental health care specialist influences her work every day. She believes that all families should feel like participants, not patients, in their care and endeavors to create supportive and collaborative spaces for people to grow as parents and meet their babies. In her spare time Holly loves to spend time with her hoard of nephews and nieces, garden, and occasionally crochet a mean afghan. |
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Melanie Dickson LM, CPM
After graduating from Seattle Midwifery School in 2006, Melanie Dickson LM, CPM began her career with Peninsula Midwives, attending home births in Jefferson, Kitsap, and Clallam counties with her longtime friend, teacher and mentor Kathy Luch. When her youngest was in kindergarten, she attended the bridging program in Toronto to train in the hospital and register as a midwife in Canada, but through events both personal and political (i.e. changing visa requirements and her parents’ changing health needs) she ended up back in Washington. For the past six years she has been catching babies and supporting families at the Puget Sound Birth Center in Kirkland--so she comes to you with experience attending births at home, birth center, and hospital. Her midwifery philosophy is much like her parenting philosophy: there is no one right way and there is no perfect, and only you know what is truly the best choice for your own body and for your sweet, fierce, miraculous babies. Her work as your midwife is to offer support, a listening ear, resources and information when needed, and to bear witness, hold space, and cheer you on as you bring your baby into the world. And then, to help clean up! In addition to practicing midwifery, she serves the Midwives Association of Washington State as Chair of the Quality Management Committee, which offers midwives safe, supportive, and clinically rigorous review of challenging cases. In the fall she teaches a class at the Midwifery Program at Bastyr University, introducing first-year midwifery students to the art of trauma-informed, consent-based physical examination, pelvic exams, and client-centered health history. Balancing her roles as midwife, mother, teacher, and human requires humor, hard work, a great team, family support, and time for self care. The latter involves biking, paddling, hiking, gardening, doing the crossword puzzle, and spending time with her kids doing what they’re currently interested in--from figure skating to discussing dragons to watching whatever silliness Tiktok has to offer. |
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Miranda Wentlandt LM, CPM, MSM
Miranda is originally from the midwest, but calls Washington home. Miranda has always been interested in the medical professions and worked as a CNA in high school, planning to someday be a labor and delivery nurse. She’s always been drawn to birth and remembers feeling left out at the age of 12-13 when she didn’t get to go to births with her mom and other aunts, when cousins were being born.
Miranda eventually attended the University of Washington to complete prerequisites, but life has its twits and turns she changed her major and chose not to apply to nursing school. While working full time for the National Guard she attended a couple of births as a support person for fellow Soldiers and looked into pursuing doula training. While attending the Simkin Center for Allied Birth Professions, Miranda learned about midwifery in the Pacific Northwest and realized that had been her calling all along. She applied to Bastyr University’s Master of Science in Midwifery program and was part of the first class to be offered additional training in an 18 month optional track called Herbal Medicine for the Childbearing Year. Miranda has worked in both busy birth centers and a majority home birth practice. Most recently she’s been living away from her family to cover maternity leave for a midwife in Wenatchee, WA. Miranda’s husband Jon is very supportive of her career choice and they recently moved to the Kitsap Peninsula with their three teenaged daughters, two dogs, and a shy cat. |
Meet Our Staff
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Wilder Kruzan, Administrative Manager |
Head shots and header photo courtesy of Ashley Grimes Photography and FourFoot Photography.