Birth Center Owner, Mary Lawlor, CPM, LM, NHCM, MA

Mary has worked as a homebirth midwife for 29 years, serving the women and families of southern Vermont and New Hampshire and western Massachusetts. "I love my workwork and feel privileged to be able to keep you company during your pregnancies and births and as you welcome your babies into the world and into your families. As the owner of the new Monadnock Birth Center, I am very excited to offer you the Birth Center as another option for your birth!"

Mary studied midwifery at The Maternity Center in El Paso, Texas in 1980-81 at The Maternity Center in El Paso, Texas, a free- standing birth center operated by midwives and a training center and school for midwives. She has been in practice in southern Vermont since October, 1981. Her daughter was born at home in Putney in 1976, and she was privileged to be the midwife for her grandson’s and grandaughter’s births, also at her home in Putney, in 2005 and 2008.April, 2005.

Mary holds the national credential of Certified Professional Midwife (CPM), and is licensed in both Vermont and New Hampshire. She graduated from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service in Washingto, DC, and She earned a Mmaster’s dDegree in Counseling from Lesley University in Boston in 1989. She beenhas been active in the licensing of midwives in both Vermont and New Hampshire, as well as in the successful effort in both states to ensure that women wanting VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean) at home will have access to Licensed Midwives for that choice. She serves as a Midwife Advisor to the Office of Professional Regulation in the Vermont Secretary of State’s Office.

In the United States, Pprotecting and preserving access to midwives and out-of-hospital birth requires constant vigilance and work on both the state and the national level. In addition to her work in Vermont and New Hampshire, Mary is a founding member, the pPresident and Policy Analyst for of the National Association of Certified Professional Midwives (NACPM). She also serves as Coordinator and Policy Analyst for the Midwives and Mothers in Action (MAMA) Campaign, a partnership of six national midwifery and consumer organizations, and is a point person for the Campaign’s strategy in Washington, D.C. to pass Federal legislation to increase women’s access to Certified Professional Midwives. (www.mamacampaign.org)

NACPM is a professional association for midwives that works to support midwives in individual states and to ensure that CPMs are represented in the development of public maternal health policy on the national level. NACPM is part of the national effort to grow the profession of midwifery and to increase access to midwives, and to ensure the success of the ultimate goal: the availability of a midwife for every mother.

Heather Whitley     Annique Sampson    Suzanne Munukka