Certified Nurse-Midwife Expert Witness

Specialties & Experience of this Expert Witness

Additional Information

I am a Certified Nurse-Midwife and Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner with more than 25 years of experience in obstetric, midwifery, nursing, and women’s health care across hospital, birth center, and outpatient settings. I have practiced the full scope of midwifery and obstetric care within large integrated health systems and academic medical centers, including Kaiser Permanente facilities throughout Southern California. My clinical expertise includes labor and delivery management, intrapartum risk assessment, fetal monitoring interpretation, obstetric triage, postpartum care, and collaborative management of complications with obstetricians. I have extensive experience working in high-volume labor and delivery units with standardized policies and procedures, including escalation of care, consultation, and transfer processes. My background also includes cesarean first assist, obstetric ultrasound, contraceptive procedures, lactation support, and perinatal loss care. Since 2012, I have served on the American Midwifery Certification Board Disciplinary Review Committee, where I review cases involving alleged deviations from professional standards of care, scope of practice, documentation, and ethical obligations of certified nurse-midwives. This role requires detailed analysis of medical records, expert reports, and regulatory standards, and has provided me with significant experience evaluating clinical decision-making and professional accountability. I have held multiple leadership positions within professional organizations, including President of the California Nurse-Midwives Association and regional leadership roles within the Southern California Permanente Medical Group. I am also a long-standing preceptor and former faculty member for midwifery and women’s health nurse practitioner programs, contributing to education on evidence-based practice, risk management, and clinical judgment. I provide medical-legal consultation, case review, and expert analysis in matters involving obstetric and midwifery standards of care, labor and delivery management, fetal monitoring, birth injury, shoulder dystocia, perineal lacerations, postpartum complications, informed consent, documentation, and interdisciplinary communication. I am bilingual in English and Spanish and hold active California licensure and national certification.