Sherry Oldfield, CNM, IBCLC

“Mid-Wife” literally translates as “With Woman” in old English. I try to honor that sentiment in everything I do. With      all my being, I believe in a woman’s ability to deliver her baby, and breastfeed her baby, as she chooses. I love watching a strong woman make choices that are right for her and her family. I feel strongly that women need to be given all their options and then supported in their choice. I was a single, working mom  raising both of my children and going to school. I lived many of the challenges most women face.

I started my career as a Licensed Practical Nurse with my two year old daughter in 1983. I started a Registered Nurse program in 1984 and continued to earn a Master’s of Science (MSN) of Nursing in 1990 at Corpus Christi State University. In 1992, I finished a Midwifery Certificate from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. I recently worked in a baby friendly hospital in the mid-cities area of DFW, gaining practical experience in helping breastfeeding mothers. I worked at Parkland in Dallas from 1996 to 2008 and have attended thousands of births.

I have also sat for the Lactation Certification Exam (IBCLC). I am committed to helping any mom who wishes to breastfeed. My son was born in 1987 and I breastfed with very little support and no lactation consultant. It was difficult and I don’t want any woman to feel that isolated.

My career path has taken me to ALL birth settings:  hospital, birth center, and home. I have a special place in my heart for homebirth. My daughter has delivered all four of her babies at home and I am deeply honored to have “caught” all of them.

I believe in birth, wherever it occurs, and if we approach it as a team it can be your birth, your baby, your way. I prefer a setting where a woman and her family know me long before their birth. I think it is essential, whether for birth or birth control, that we know each other so we can find the best options of care for you and your life.

  Traci Massoletti Santangelo, CNM, WHNNP

Traci Santangelo, is currently a nurse midwifery student attending the University of Illinois at Chicago for her Master’s in Nursing and is scheduled to graduate December 2012. Traci has worked as a registered nurse in various states in labor and delivery and as a staff nurse in office gynecology. She believes that her diverse experiences, both personally and professionally, have inspired her to provide care from a holistic standpoint, rather than a strict medical model. Traci’s passion has always been birth and human development. She believes human birth is a natural occurrence, and wants to provide the best care during this time of rapid development as well as throughout the lifespan of a woman. When not taking care of patients, Traci enjoys reading, traveling and spending time with her husband and two children.

Mission Statement

My personal career mission is to have a gentle hand, open mind and ears that listen, to all women in their quest for holistic health.

Philosophy

I believe in the power of knowledge. Knowledge that is experienced as well as the knowledge that is disseminated.

I believe in collaborating with people and their families, from the simplest of problems to the most complex.

I believe health is more than the absence of illness, and should be promoted. With equal importance on the aspects of spiritual, physical, mental and social well-being.

I believe in the individual, in all its forms of culture, values and lifestyles.

I believe in advocacy. For those who cannot speak for themselves and for the generations to come.

I believe in the beauty of what a nurse can do. Just look at what I can do.

Erica Oldfield, R.N.

My mother (Sherry Oldfield) has been a nurse for as long as I can remember.  When she was going to Nurse Midwifery School, I knew then that I was going to be a nurse just like her. The stories she would tell after coming home from work at the hospital made me never want to have a hospital birth. I knew by the age of 12 that I wanted to have my babies at home. I never thought about the pain of it;  it is a natural part of life. With my first daughter I did not know what to expect, but I worked through it and had Ariel after 7 hours of labor. I went on to have another girl and 2 boys at home. I became a nurse after having my second daughter Vanessa, and have been a postpartum nurse at a very busy county hospital for 2 years now. I assist new mothers with breastfeeding and I plan to take the test in 2013 to become a certified lactation consultant. I have assisted my mother in several home births and hospital births.