October 29th 2025
Wisteria Hall @ The Seattle Arboretum
Wisteria Hall @ The Seattle Arboretum
MAWS Annual Meeting & Virtual Exhibition
We are thrilled to announce the MAWS Annual Meeting & Exhibition. This special event will be held on October 29, 2025, at Wisteria Hall in the UW Arboretum.
8 am until 4pm
Followed by a happy hour until 6pm
Rhonda Lee Grantham will open the morning calling us all into the space we will create together.
The MAWS Conference is a space for all Washington state midwives to come together for a day of learning and connecting across all educational backgrounds, approaches, and certifications.
Agenda
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Registration 7:00-8:00 am Gather with us a bit early, when you will receive your badge and a warm cup of tea or coffee to cradle in your hands as you exchange smiles with old companions or allow yourself to be inspired by new ones. Meet the new MAWS Board Members and be guided by volunteers to sign-in, share program highlights, continuing education details. |
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8:00 - 8:20 am
Speaker: Rhonda Lee Grantham Opening We will open the day with an invitation into the space we will collectively shape, not just for this gathering, but for the year to come. With guidance, we step into a shared space of gratitude, kinship, and possibility. |
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8:25 - 9:55 am
Speakers: Farrah Rivera, Ellen Solis, and Tiffany Renee HEALING Midwifery Together Heal, Educate, Advocate, Learn, Integrate, Nurture & Grow. We welcome UW in presenting this exciting project. This is a community led project exploring midwives experiences in all Midwifery educational pathways in the United States with the aim of asking "what would it look like for an integrated midwifery pathway?" Attendees who engage have the options to be part of today's listening session and/or 1n1 interviews. To honor our participants expertise and time, a $100 gift certificate will be emailed with the completion of both the Contact Information Form and Post - Interview Google form. Attendees will receive a HEALING Midwifery Together packet in early October to review prior to the day of the conference. |
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10:15 - 11:00 am
Speaker: Wendy Gordon, DM, MPH, LM Applying the New Consensus Guidelines for Intermittent Auscultation in Community Birth This 45-minute session is designed for experienced practicing midwives. Participants will leave with a clear understanding of the 2025 new consensus standards, practical tools for applying them in daily practice, and strategies to use consistent terminology and documentation that support both safe, evidence-informed care and professional accountability. Topics will include:
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11:15 -12:00
Speaker: Lauren Martin Defensive Charting for Midwives. Lauren is a Shareholder at Bennett Bigelow & Leedom, P.S. Her practice at BB&L focuses on the defense of physicians, hospitals, multi-specialty clinics, academic medical centers, nurses, and other health care professionals in medical liability litigation, as well as representing hospitals in medical staff matters. Lauren also has extensive experience representing health care professionals in licensing and disciplinary actions involving the Washington State Department of Health, and the Washington Medical Commission. Lauren is licensed to practice law in Washington and Alaska. Her experience includes civil jury trials, administrative agency proceedings, and hospital medical staff proceedings. She has been selected to the Washington Super Lawyers Rising Stars® list every year since 2019, and the Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch every year since 2022. |
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Noon - 1:00
Catered Lunch by Pyramid Catering Asian Style Buffet |
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1:00 - 2: 00
Birth Center Panel Discussion Building Sustainability in Midwifery Through Birth Centers. This interactive conversation will highlight each individual birth center's mission, vision, and offerings, including what type of model you have chosen, how you incorporate student learning or why you have chosen not to, your experience with collaboration and integration with the medical industrial complex to streamline appropriate care, and the updates on facility fees that are making birth centers a sustainable option for midwives. We are excited to feature these voices as part of this important conversation. |
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2:15 - 3:00
Speaker: Ingrid Skjelstad |
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3:15 - 4:00 pm
Speaker: Kristin Efflin Leg/Pol Update |
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4:15 - 5:00 pm
Speaker: Louisa Wales MAWS President MAWS Updates |
Midwife Happy Hour
5:00 - 6:00 pm
5:00 - 6:00 pm