Meet Our Team
The Colorado Midwives Association supports and promotes the option of homebirth for families in Colorado. The CMA facilitates communication and community amongst direct-entry midwives through conferences and workshops. Direct-entry midwives have been legal in Colorado since 1993 due to the efforts of the CMA and supporting community. The CMA strives to be a legislative force behind maintaining and updating the regulations of direct-entry midwifery in Colorado.
Mission
The mission of the Colorado Midwives Association is to support direct-entry midwifery through advocacy, continuing education, and community awareness.
Vision
Midwifery care will be an integral part of the healthcare system and home birth will be a widely accepted option. Midwives and other maternity healthcare providers will work collaboratively with professional respect, trust, and mutual goals in providing excellent care.
Purpose
Mission
The mission of the Colorado Midwives Association is to support direct-entry midwifery through advocacy, continuing education, and community awareness.
Vision
Midwifery care will be an integral part of the healthcare system and home birth will be a widely accepted option. Midwives and other maternity healthcare providers will work collaboratively with professional respect, trust, and mutual goals in providing excellent care.
Purpose
- The CMA advances home birth midwifery care as an accessible option to families in Colorado.
- The CMA provides educational and informational resources, as well as opportunities to midwives in Colorado.
- The CMA advocates for laws and policies that promote best practices in midwifery care.
- The CMA expects midwives to provide excellent quality of care using the Midwives Model of Care, MANA statement of values and ethics and Colorado State Rules and Regulations as their guide.
Melissa Sexton
President
I have had the honor of serving Colorado families in the Denver metro area for the last 10 years. In 2018 I was voted president of the CMA. I have always had a passion for birth, babies, and watching families grow. Now I am able to share this energy as President of the CMA by helping to keep homebirth an option for Colorado families. I also love teaching, sharing, and laughing with my fellow midwives and midwives students in our strives to continue to help educate and advocate for the community. My first introduction to midwifery care was as a teenager. I knew right then I wanted to have my babies at home. Since then I have had the blessing of having 4 home births and have attended hundreds of births, from doula, birth assistant, apprentice, midwife, and preceptor. I also love getting my hands in the dirt, exercising, & good food. |
Kattie Jones
Treasurer
Born and raised in Mexico, to a large family most of whom had home-births. Kattie is fluent in Spanish and English! She was born into the hands of a midwife, and that very same midwife caught Kattie’s first daughter. Kattie did her internship in Montana where she assisted both homebirths and birth center births. Kattie is passionate about serving the Latino community in homebirths and lactation. Kattie chose to serve on the CMA Board to help support her fellow Midwives and future Midwives in Colorado. She integrates your dreams and desires for an ideal birth with safe, evidence-based care and experience. |
Jennifer Barr
Vice President
Jennifer Barr RM, CPM, CLC vice president she/her Jennifer has re-joined the board in the fall of 2018 (having served previously from 2002-2007) with a profound desire to continue the work her foremothers did to secure ever-improving legislation by being the midwife lobbyist in the upcoming sunset review and sense of responsibility for the future of midwifery in Colorado. She brings to the organization a belief that access to health care is a basic human right and plans to be a part of the board and organization becoming more consciously and overtly anti-racist. Jennifer became a homebirth midwife in 2009 after a 13 year journey through the PEP process which formally began in 1996 at Maternidad La Luz (maternidadlaluz.com) in El Paso, TX and completed with an apprenticeship and internship in the Denver and Boulder areas. She holds a BA in Religion from Trinity College in Hartford, CT and has been a craniosacral therapist for 20 years. She studied craniosacral and somatic therapy with Anna & John Chitty at the Colorado School of Energy Studies (energyschool.com) and Prenatal and Birth Therapy with Ray Castellino (castellinotraining.com) which she weaves into the trauma-aware, evidence-based care that she provides. She had the opportunity to study with many wonderful senior midwives throughout her training in both birth center and home birth settings. Jennifer has served on the board of International Midwife Assistance (midwifeassist.org) since its inception in 2005. IMA’s mission is to raise the standard of maternal/infant care in areas experiencing crisis and currently funds a birth center in Soroti, Uganda. wayofbirth.com |
Natalie Bacca
Secretary
Hi! I’m Natalie, mother of two children, both born at home. My hobbies include kickboxing, crocheting, flamenco dancing, traveling (once upon a time), pottery and finding the perfect latte. I also love attending births, it’s such an honor! It’s great getting to know growing new families. I like spending time getting to know my clients. And yes, LGBTQ+, and all other diversities of people are welcome in my practice. As a community midwife, I offer compassionate, highly personalized, evidence-based care throughout the childbearing year. My approach is holistic and intuitive. I encourage more natural modalities such as rebozo, waterbirth, delayed cord clamping, and being skin-to-skin with their newborn baby. |
Jennifer Dossett
Membership
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Althea Hrdlichka
Newsletter Chair
Althea Hrdlichka is a Certified Professional Midwife licensed in Colorado, Wyoming and Arizona. After completion of her clinical training in Arizona and Northern Colorado, she graduated from National Midwifery Institute in October of 2016 and received her national licensure in February of 2017. Althea started her solo homebirth practice in 2016 and shortly after began pursuing her dreams to open Northern Colorado’s first free standing birth center, Tender Gifts Midwifery & Birth Center. Althea began her career as a birth and postpartum doula in 2009 after the birth of her 4th baby. Her drive for supporting families during the most precious times in their lives began after having a number of different birthing experiences herself, ending with the most perfect homebirth. She has had the honor of attending over 400 births, helping with preconception counseling, providing complete prenatal care during pregnancy, labor and delivery, and care for mother’s and baby’s in the postpartum period. Tender Gifts serves clients in Northern Colorado and Southern Wyoming. Althea’s goal for her practice is to provide gentle, loving care to any and all clients, helping them have the birth experience they deserve. Althea Hrdlichka is a Certified Professional Midwife who lives in Fort Collins, CO. She serves Northern Colorado and Southern Wyoming and is currently in the process of opening Northern Colorado’s first free standing birth center. She has had the honor to serve as a board member since 2018. Althea’s passion while serving is to help bring the changes our state needs, not only with our rules and regulations, but helping facilitate conversation and changes amongst the midwifery community in order to better serve all. |
Samantha Venn
Digital Presence CHair
Samantha is a student midwife, through the PEP process, at Meadowsweet Midwifery. She began studying midwifery after experiencing first-hand the compassion and empowerment of midwifery care. Truly a life changing experience. She has since had 4 homebirths including a surrogate birth. She lives in Golden, CO with her husband and kiddos. She serves on the board assisting with social media and hopes to help foster a sense of community and sisterhood within the Colorado midwifery community. |
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