Skip to main content

Oregon State Flag An official website of the State of Oregon »

Oregon.gov Homepage

Board of Direct Entry Midwifery

Latest News

IntroText

Direct Entry Midwifery Permanent Administrative Rules, TXA Education and Training

The Board of Direct Entry Midwifery (Board) and the Health Licensing Office (HLO) filed permanent rules for direct entry midwifery with the Oregon Secretary of State's Office on April 28, 2023, and June 28, 2023. Permanent rules related to peer review and legend drugs and devices were effective on May 1, 2023. Permanent rules for risk assessment practice standards were effective on June 28, 2023.

The permanent rules will be published in the May and June 2023 Oregon Bulletin and are also available on the HLO laws and rules web page for the Board.

1 - 1Next
 

Practitioner information

The following regulated profession is overseen by the Board of Direct Entry Midwifery. Learn more about applying for a license, associated fees, laws, rules and more by following the link below:

About the board

The Board of Direct Entry Midwifery oversees the practices of licensed direct entry midwives (LDMs) in the State of Oregon. LDMs supervise the conduct and labor of childbirth, advise the parent as to the progress of childbirth, and render prenatal, intrapartum and postpartum care.

The Board of Direct Entry Midwifery consists of seven members appointed by the governor and subject to confirmation by the Oregon Senate:

  • Four licensed direct entry midwives
  • One certified nurse midwife
  • One physician practicing obstetrical care or education at the time of appointment
  • One public member

Terms of service are three years or until a successor is appointed and confirmed. If a member serves two consecutive full terms, a period of at least three years must elapse before the individual is again eligible for appointment to serve on the board.

Board members

Kelly Fisher photo

Kelsey Fisher

Term: 2nd Full
Term end: 9/18/2023
Portland


Kelsey has been pursuing midwifery since 2008, when she first realized people still had babies at home with midwives. At the time she was studying Chemical Engineering at Oregon State University, but rapidly shifted gears and applied to midwifery school. After going to her first birth as a student in 2010, there has never been any question that midwifery is where she belongs. With a plan to serve the midwifery community as a midwife and more for decades to come, a position on the board made perfect sense. In this way, her love of language and attention to detail can be put to good use working with the rules and cases that come before the board.

Kelsey is currently a midwife at Bridge Town Midwifery, Inc. and assists other midwives in the Portland metro area. She received her Master's of Science in Midwifery from Bastyr University in 2014.

Meredith Klein

Term: 2nd Full
Term end: 6/30/2025
McMinnville


Once I awakened to my midwifery calling, there was no turning back. I moved to Eugene, Oregon in 1996 to attend a three-year training program at the Oregon School of Midwifery, and 25 years later I am still moved, inspired, and challenged professionally in service to birthing families.

I earned my Certified Professional Midwife credential and Texas license in 2000, and between now and then have traveled a circuitous path from Austin to Philadelphia and back to Oregon's Willamette Valley. I have worked in birth centers and at home, as a Spanish interpreter and public health educator, as well as given birth in both an operating room and with my midwife sisters in a birth center.

I have held licenses in three states as well as worked in Pennsylvania where midwives were unregulated. I have served as a preceptor to midwives, and on boards of local and state advocacy groups. Activism has always been a part of my professional landscape, and I look forward to serving on the Oregon Board of Direct Entry Midwifery as part of that inspiration.

Wendy Smith

Wendy Smith

Term: 2nd Full
Term end: 9/30/2020
Portland


Since 2011, Dr. Wendy Smith has worked as an Obstetrical Hospitalist at Legacy Emanuel Hospital. She serves as hospital support to patients who receive care from the Maternal Fetal Medicine specialists at Legacy, the Family Practice doctors and Nurse Practitioners at the Multnomah County Clinics, the Legacy Certified Nurse Midwives, and to the women who choose a home or out-of-hospital birth with direct entry midwives or Naturopathic doctors and who require hospital transport.

She is also a Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Oregon Health & Science University, and Physician Researcher, Center for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Northwest.

Dr. Smith received her bachelor’s degree in biology and psychobiology from Harvard College, Cambridge, MA; her Master’s of Public Health from Columbia University School of Public Health, New York, NY; her medical degree from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York; and a master’s of science degree from the University of Washington, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Department of Epidemiology, Seattle. She served her residency at UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles.

“I want to ensure that women and their partners in Oregon are able to make informed decisions about the alternatives that exist for their pregnancy, including all of the risks and benefits of each choice,” Dr. Smith said. “It is our duty to help patients learn about the questions they should be asking when it comes to obtaining obstetrical care.”

Christine Morales

Term: 2nd Full
Term end: 2/28/2026
Salem




​

Lynette Pettibone

Term: 2nd Full
Term end: 2/13/2026
Tigard


Lynette graduated from the University of Washington with a Bachelors degree in Psychology in 1995. Since 2001, following the birth of her first child, Lynette has worked with growing families as a Childbirth Educator and Doula in private practice. She became a passionate advocate for providing options in childbirth and maternity care, which then lead her to a career as a licensed direct entry midwife. In 2016 she graduated from Bastyr University with a Masters degree in Midwifery.

Lynette is currently a community midwife and owner of The Bridge Birth and Family Services as well as an assistant midwife with several practices in Oregon and SW Washington. She is a member of the Oregon Midwifery Council, Midwives of Washington State, the National Association Certified of Professional Midwives and serves on several committees with the American Association of Birth Centers. Lynette hopes to utilize her skills, experience, and dedication to increase access and improve the quality of midwifery care through out Oregon.

Meredith Mance

Term: 1st Full
Term end: 6/30/2023
McMinnville


​Meredith is a CPM, Licensed Direct-Entry Midwife, and Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC). She received her bachelor's from the University of Southern California in 2009, and went on to pursue midwifery through the Association of Texas Midwives' Midwifery Training Program, starting in 2013.

Prior to moving to Oregon, she worked as a Staff Midwife and Supervisor at the Austin Area Birthing Center in Austin, TX. She now lives in McMinnville, OR with her husband and co-owns Wilder Midwifery, which offers culturally compassionate home birth services for families in the Willamette Valley.

The Board of Direct Entry Midwifery currently has an opening for a Public Member. To apply, fill out the Application form.

Board Recruitment

Are you interested in serving as a volunteer citizen board member? HLO-regulated boards seek new members as current board member terms expire.

Current vacancies and how to apply

For board recruitment questions or the appointment process, contact the Oregon Governor's Office of Executive Appointments at 503-378-6829.

 Subscribe to receive email notification of Board updates