Midwives
Jennifer Gallardo, CPM, LDM
Carrie Duncan, CPM, LDM
Carrie was called to midwifery in 1996 after the homebirth of her daughter, Sierra, in Canby, Oregon. She attended homebirths with her midwife for two years before apprenticing at Andaluz. She graduated from Birthingway College of Midwifery in 2003. She practiced in Portland as a home birth midwife and has lived and practiced in rural Jamaica. Carrie believes that informed choice is a corner stone in quality healthcare and is proud to facilitate women’s choices as a midwife. She has two children, loves the outdoors and enjoys traveling, although only on her months off call!
Tracy Lawson-Allen, CPM, LDM
Tracy recognized after the birth of her first child that birth is a profound rite of passage in a woman’s life and that she wanted to do for others what her midwives had done for her. She arrived at Andaluz as a pregnant student midwife in the Fall of 2001 and it has been a home to her ever since. She apprenticed in a rural homebirth practice as well as another birth center during her studies between 2005 and 2008, but came to land back at Andaluz as a primary midwife in 2008. Tracy has been teaching childbirth education classes at Andaluz for over a decade now. She is passionate about holding the space for families to feel empowered by and in charge of their births, while offering evidence-based care. Native Oregonians, Tracy and her very musical husband are enjoying raising their five children in Oregon’s natural beauty.
Tracy is also a Mamalates Instructor and is the Vice-President of the Oregon Midwifery Council.
Amber Zietz, CNM
Megan Coppock, CPM, LDM
Brooke Prudhomme , CPM
Shortly after the birth of her youngest son in 2010, Brooke began her midwifery education as an apprentice with Trillium WomanCare, a home birth practice in Memphis, Tennessee. She has studied with the midwives at The Farm in Tennessee and was certified by the National Association of Registered Midwives in 2019. Brooke made vital contributions to the foundational organization and licensure of the first birth center in Memphis, CHOICES: Memphis Center for Reproductive Health, the only full-scope reproductive health center of it’s kind in the United States. After her time as a midwife at CHOICES, she founded Midwives of Memphis.
Her approach to midwifery is focused, dynamic and uplifting. Her curiosity and love of learning is central to her commitment to providing evidence based care and informed choice to families that is rooted in the science of midwifery. Brooke attended the University of Memphis with a focus on anthropology and fine art and is currently pursuing her RN, to be completed Winter of 2023. She developed and taught “Weekend Warrior” childbirth education classes and as an Ashtanga and Kundalini trained yogi she partnered with the founder of Delta Groove Yoga to develop “Yoga for Birth” which they co-taught together for most of Brooke’s midwifery apprenticeship.
Brooke is excited for the new adventure of relocating to Portland from Memphis with her partner and the youngest child of their blended family of six, while their adult children explore their paths all over the country. Brooke loves being in the woods, practicing yoga and meditation, running, studying and writing, good food, staying cozy with her family, chatting with her girlfriends, and laughing a lot. She is thrilled to be a part of the incredible team of midwives and birth professionals at Andaluz.
Joanna Blondeau , MSN, CNM
Joanna knew as a child that she wanted to care for moms and babies. She began working toward this goal in 2004 by pursuing a degree in nursing. She graduated with her BSN degree in 2009 but had yet to discover her niche with nursing.
It was the experience of care from midwives during her pregnancies and births that awakened her own calling to midwifery. She continued on to pursue midwifery studies through Frontier Nursing University not long after the birth of her second child. She graduated with honors with a Masters in Nursing in January 2019 and became a Certified Nurse Midwife.
She has been involved with birth work in varying roles as a doula, labor & delivery nurse, and midwife since 2015 and has witnessed over 300 births. She most recently served women at a community health center, attending births at Legacy hospital in Vancouver, WA and is thrilled to now be working out of the hospital with the midwives at Andaluz.
At her core, she believes that a woman’s body was designed for the physiological processes of pregnancy, labor, and giving birth. She is passionate about providing individualized, evidence-based, and holistic care to women in a way that empowers and supports her own healthcare decisions.
She enjoys fitness, learning about nutrition, being outside, and spending time with her husband, three children, and large extended family.
Dele Ogunleye, MD, FACOG
Medical Director
Laura Wiegand
Administrator
Having planted the seeds and nourished the growth of two other freestanding birth centers prior to launching Burr Ridge Birth Center, Laura’s immense expertise and guidance are well regarded both by our staff and at the state and national levels.
Laura Wiegand currently serves as the COO/Co-Founder of Birth Partners, Inc. She successfully managed the opening of the Birth Center of Bloomington Normal in Bloomington, Illinois, and assisted with opening Beginnings Birth Center, Colorado Springs, Colorado. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
At the national level, she serves on the American Association of Birth Centers’ Industry Relations Committee (IRC). She works at the state and local level to educate the public, medical communities and health insurance providers about the benefits of the birth center model of care, including better outcomes, reduced costs for families & payors, and overall increased client satisfaction. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Laura didn’t know the difference birth centers could make until twenty years after she had her own children. Having always loved birth and had the honor of being able to witness several for her nieces and nephews, Laura has become the master champion and facilitator of the community-based model of care. Her enthusiasm, meticulous eye for detail, and advocate’s heart make Laura the invaluable glue that pulls the dream together. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Laura lives in Washington, IL, with her supportive and patient husband, Andy. Together they have two grown children, Shane and Elizabeth, and a “fur baby”, Layla. She credits her Mom, Grammy, and Aunties as the strong, independent women in her life that raised her to be passionate and impactful in her community. When she’s not immersed in building birth centers, she loves to travel and take in all the sights and experiences her destinations have to offer.