Jennifer Caniglio CNM
I cannot remember a time when I did not want to deliver babies! Following high school I chose to enter nursing school and began my career at University of Maryland Medical System's NICU. I loved caring for fragile newborns and enjoyed watching them grow and bond with their parents. Following a move to Maryland's Eastern Shore I began working on Labor and Delivery at Chester River Hospital Center. I loved caring for women in labor but still felt an intense desire to more involved with the entire process of birth. In 2003 I completed my Bachelor's in Nursing through the University Of Delaware, and then began my journey to becoming a midwife through The Midwifery Institute at Philadelphia University. My journey completed in 2005 when I joined Bay Area Midwifery Center. I truely believe I have the best job in the world. Supporting a family through pregnancy and delivery is an amazing experience. I am always amazed at the strength and determination women in labor possess. I am married and have three children of my own. I have experienced natual birth, epidural birth, and cesarean section. I understand how women feel in labor, and I truely believe that women can accomplish anything they set their mind to. I hope to always be able to hold the hand of a woman no matter what the circumstances, because every woman deserves the right to be heard, and have her needs met at this important time in her life.                                       

 

   Kimla McDonald CNM

The desire to make sure that women have choices in childbirth sparked my journey to becoming a midwife. It was a mid-life career change for me, coming after graduating from the University of California in Berkeley, and practicing as a landscape architect. In 1989, with the support of a good friend, a great Bradley instructor, and my family, I gave birth to my daughter at home, attended by a midwife. Four years later, my son was born into the hands of that same midwife, who remains a lifelong friend and who inspired me to follow in her footsteps. I became a doula, childbirth educator, and eventually an apprentice to a home-birth practice in New Orleans, where I lived for five years. This excellent training was followed by nursing school and midwifery training at the Frontier School of Midwifery and Family Nursing, where I received my midwifery certification and a master's degree in nursing. Along the way,  I continue to learn from other midwives, nurses, obstetricians, acupuncturists and practitioners of homeopathcy, but I learn the most from the women I meet. Whether I am talking to women about nutrition or contraception,  or attending them in labor, it is a privilege to practice as a midwife.

  Shaina French, CNM

I started off my journey into nursing at Johns Hopkins School of Nursing. There I discovered my calling to become a Nurse Midwife and worked as a doula supporting women through labor. At University of New Mexico I learned the art of midwifery. I loved providing individualized care to women and mothers going through different phases in their lives from puberty through menopause. Education and empowerment of women is my focus. I view my role as a midwife as a guide and advocate in a system of health care which can sometimes be overwhelming to patients. For the last 3 years I worked in Georgia at a large hospital practice. I was able to gain lots of experience dealing with everything from unmedicated healthy childbirth to high risk pregnancies. As a Maryland native joining Bay Area has been a homecoming for me. I am very happy now to be part of a practice that offers women choices for their labor environment.

 Michele Jordan, CNM

As of December 2011 we wlecom our new midwife. Profile coming soon!