Midwife Barbara Herrera's Bio

My Mini Resume

I attended my first birth as a doula in January 1983 and still find them just as exhilarating today. I've been a doula, monitrice or midwife for 900 births (give or take) in hospitals, birth centers and at home.

I've worked alongside doctors, nurses and certified nurse midwives since I began attending births, including assisting CNMs at two separate birth centers in Orlando, Florida.

I was a Prenatal Case Coordinator and HIV/AIDS Counselor for Planned Parenthood San Diego then worked under a Center for Disease Control grant at the Farmworker Association of Florida as an HIV/STD Counselor for Latina migrants in Orlando.

Several stints at Casa de Nacimiento in El Paso, Texas gave me a wide variety of birth experiences with a 99% Spanish-speaking only clientele. Here, I learned, then honed, my skills as a midwife.

I've been a Licensed Midwife in California since 2005, licensed by the Medical Board of California. I've assisted and/or managed about 150 homebirths. I also carry the Certified Professional Midwife designation after passing the North American Registry of Midwives' exam. NARM's test is considered the standard for licensing midwives in midwifery-legal states.

Now a retired La Leche League leader (a breastfeeding counselor), I have also taught childbirth classes to a wide variety of pregnant families -from inner city teens and migrant women to military wives... as well as for my own midwifery clients.

Family Life!

(See our pics here.)

My spouse Zack and I have four kids between us - Tristan, hospital-born in 1982; Meghann, home-born in 1984; Aimee, car-born (surprise!) and Darren, hospital-born, both in 1986.

We also have our two furry "babies" now... Cash (a long-haired daschund) and Lilo (our rescue dog suspected to be part Jack Russell and part MinPin or Chihuahua).

Kids' links above go to their birth stories on my blog.