JUNE 2025 Newsletter: New Leadership, Bold Partnerships, updates on funding, trainings, and growth.

The Tender Work of Rebuilding
A Letter from Your Executive Director

Dear MAWS Community,

There is a kind of labor that lives between what was and what wants to be born. We all live and work in that space.The work of redefining and then rolling up our sleeves to rebuild. It requires not only plans and policies, spreadsheets and fundraising, spending money to bring money in, but more importantly the poetry of discomfort, hard conversations, and beautiful resolution in the spaces between vision and manifestation. A willingness to sit with uncertainty, to touch the ache of old structures and harm done, and to summon something wiser in their place.

At MAWS, we are excited and inspired to be in such a moment.
We are reimagining the organization from its very roots, guided by new leadership, community partnerships, and a renewed rhythm of collective purpose. This is work that is listening deeply to what movements are needed. 

We are very excited to have voted in our new Vice President Nisa Orozco! Because of your commitment to MAWS we were able send her to the 2025 Indigenous Birth Conference this year to represent Washington State Midwives. 

As part of this visioning, we have formally initiated our partnership with the National Association of Certified Professional Midwives (NACPM). It is more than alignment, it is strength in solidarity. We will find out soon if MAWS has been voted in as a partner. Their work on licensure, reimbursement, and policy equity uplifts us all, and I invite every Washington CPM to join NACPM National now. 

We are also tilling tour financial soil:

• Our BECU sponsorship application is in motion, envisioning $5,000–$10,000 to nourish our work.
• A fundraising archive now lives in a ledger of generosity, intention, and growth within our organizational platform, as we prepare for fundraising efforts attached to the upcoming Miles for Midwives in September and our 2025 MAWS Conference in conjunction with Breech without Borders this October. 

Meanwhile, the work of education and gathering continues:

• We organized a Nexplanon training at Bastyr to expand provider access and choice.
• We are promoting an upcoming NRP training on 6/19/25 at Sprout Birth Center, Mountlake Terrace. Community birth focus. 
• We are bringing Breech Without Borders to Spokane on November 1, in collaboration with Lisa Larkin of the ACNM and of course our Seattle Trainings are filling up on October 28 and 30th which will be held in the Seattle Arboreatum classrooms. 
• The luminous Wisteria Hall nestled within the Seattle Arboreatum is now secured for our 2025 conference. 
• And we have joined HiVECE as an organizational member, unlocking CEU discounts for our community of learners and leaders. I will be sending out the Membership code in a seperate email forthcoming this week.

We are reenvisioning our space in Washington State.
We are shaping it together.
And I am so grateful to be shaping it with you.

We are looking forward to having the MAWS members step in as a volunteers for the upcoming events, we want everyone who wants to be involved to be involved. Volunteer HERE!

With warmth and resolve,
Brooke Prudhomme, LM, CPM
Executive Director, MAWS

 Welcome Our New Vice President: Nisa Orozco, LM, MA (she/her)
We are overjoyed to welcome Nisa Orozco as the new Vice President of the Midwives' Association of Washington State.
A 2023 graduate of Bastyr University’s Master of Midwifery program with a concentration in Botanical Medicine, Nisa brings a rich tapestry of lived experience, scholarly insight, and tireless commitment to reproductive justice. Her journey began seven years ago as a doula, and she has since held roles as a student midwife and birth assistant across California, Texas, and Washington.
Her leadership is shaped by direct patient care, education, and advocacy. Nisa understands that transformative maternal healthcare must address racial disparities, expand access in communities of color, and be shaped by those it serves.
We are incredibly fortunate to have her voice, her vision, and her unwavering commitment guiding MAWS into its next chapter. Please join us in offering a warm and wholehearted welcome to Nisa!
“My dream,” she says, “is to aid practitioners and legislation in adopting a maternal healthcare culture guided by principles of accessibility, prevention, quality care, appropriate intervention and culturally appropriate education.”
With leaders like Nisa, that dream feels not only possible—but inevitable.

MAWS APPLICATION FOR NACPM PARTNERSHIP. 
We are very excited to be considered for state partnership with The National Association of Certified Professional Midwives (NACPM). The partnership supports established State organizations by providing resources, tools, and community to strengthen midwifery leadership and impact across the nation. Support includes quarterly leadership collaboration calls, a Partner Google group, state leader toolkits, policy guidance, technical assistance, and national visibility through the NACPM newsletter.
MAWS encourages Washington State CPM's to Become an NACPM Member if you have not already. 
Membership Tiers range from a full-fee membership to a 90% discount.
Explore the membership types and choose the level that fits you best.
Visit the NACPM Membership FAQ

REGISTER FOR NPR for COMMUNITY BIRTH HERE

Register Here for the NEXPLANON training on June 20th from 1-3 PM. ​

We are adding a training in SPOKANE on NOVEMBER 1st in collaboration with ACNM due to our Seattle Trainings filling up quickly. 
Registration is open to MAWS members only until June 15th and will then open to the public. We will be releasing the Spokane registration in the coming days! 

Discount Rates for On-Demand CourseMembers of MAWS may enroll in Transfer Tools for Midwives, EMS, and Hospital Providers for only $75. Billing for Midwives All Access is 50% off. And all other on-demand continuing education courses are available at a 20% discount.