I, Hope Coulter, am a wife and mother of three. I graduated from Mercy in Action, accredited through the National College of Midwifery, with an Associates of Science degree in Midwifery. I spent an intensive seven months in Las Cruces, New Mexico studying the academic aspects of maternity care, and one year at the largest charity-based birthing clinic in the Philippines, serving thousands of patients annually. I have attended over 250 births as primary midwife or assistant and labor support. I became registered by the State of Colorado to practice midwifery in 2004. I am a Certified Professional Midwife through the North American Registry of Midwives. I hold an ALSO certification (Advanced Life Support in Obstetrics), and I am certified in Neonatal Resuscitation and Adult CPR. I completed EMT-Basic training in 2002, and I have 250 hours of massage therapy from the Connecting Point School of Massage in Telluride, Colorado.
Midwives are trained experts in the normal birth process, referring and/or consulting with physicians when it is medically necessary (Colorado Midwives Association). I am, however, skilled and equipped to provide emergency care, should the need arise. My clinical training with impoverished and malnourished women provided many hands-on experiences with hemorrhage, meconium, shoulder dystocia, infant resuscitation, hypertension, pre-eclampsia, I.V. administration, suturing, breech presentation, and multiple gestation, and thoroughly persuaded me that adequate nutrition is the single most important physical factor in determining the outcome of pregnancy.