Brynne Potter, CPM

I decided to be a midwife when I was 20 years old. My spark was an interest in empowerment through self healing and natural remedies. I had started learning about herbal remedies for myself and that led to lots of reading about all the bad things that happen to us when we are young that can become wounds and illnesses we have to "heal". It occurred to me that if we can start babies off right, maybe they won't have so much healing to do. I started catching babies in 1991, with a live in apprenticeship (oh the things we can do before we have kids of our own..) with a midwife in Mississippi.

In 1992, after the birth of my first child, Max, at home in Virginia (we called him "a career move"), I began assisting at births in the Charlottesville area. I attended home, birth center, and hospital births as an assistant to anyone who would have me. Between 1993 and 2001 I attended over 50 births and worked with 6 different midwives who had very different training and practice styles. I also had my second child, Jeremy, at home in 1996.

In 2002, I began attending home births as a primary midwife. I simultaneously began the systematic documentation and training to qualify for the Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) credential. In 2005, I received my CPM certification. It was a crazy year, as I also served as the Legislative Coordinator for the Commonwealth Midwives Alliance (CMA), living in a hotel in Richmond so that I could spend every day lobbying our legislators to pass our CPM licensure bill. The work paid off for me personally, as the bill passed and I received my Virginia license in early 2006. At this time I have attended approximately 175 home births.

In addition to my training through apprenticeships, I have acquired midwifery knowledge through self study, study groups, coursework in life sciences (Anatomy and Physiology, Microbiology, Developmental Psychology) at Piedmont Virginia Community College, and working as a Patient Care Assistant at the University of Virginia Medical Center-providing bedside and clinical care to rehabilitation patients. I have attended numerous additional workshops on topics that are vital to midwifery care. I am certified in adult CPR and neonatal resuscitation.

I currently sit on the Board of Directors for the North American Registry of Midwives (NARM), the credentialing agency that oversees the CPM credential. They recruited me after our bill passed so that I could help work with other states who are seeking licensure. I also continue to serve CMA as the Policy Coordinator and serve on the Advisory Board of the VABirthPAC.

I obviously enjoy the politics and my soap box is well worn, but my heart is in my midwifery practice and working with families who want the experience that I can offer.

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

Contact me at brynne@mountainviewmidwives.com