Meet The Midwife
Dr. Stephanie Mitchell,
DNP, CNM, CPM
Stephanie Mitchell is a Certified Professional Midwife who has practiced full scope midwifery in private collaborative practice, hospital, and tertiary care teaching settings since 2016. She holds a Bachelors of Science in Nursing, a Masters of Science in Nursing with a specialty in community-based midwifery, and a Doctorate of Nursing Practice.
Dr. Mitchell began her path working as a pediatric nurse, as a labor and delivery nurse, and then as a midwife in a collaborative midwifery group in one of the largest and highest volume hospital systems in Boston. In her time there she logged over 12,000 hours of patient care, attended thousands of births, and delivered over 600 babies.
During this time she saw firsthand the life-changing—and life saving—potential of full-scope midwifery care. In her time with the hospital, she bore witness to many experiences of pain, trauma, and unexpected and unnecessary negative outcomes. She also saw many transcendent birth experiences, beautiful, supported, and ending with joy .
While so many things on our healthcare journeys are beyond our control, one thing Dr. Stephanie realized during this time was that the thing that often made the difference between negative and positive birthing experiences was simple: knowledge.
When people giving birth are empowered with the time and knowledge to process choices and options, understand risks and benefits, and make the most informed decisions on their birthing journeys, outcomes are vastly improved.
In 2020, Dr. Stephanie moved to Gainesville, AL, with her partner of 20 years, Jamie—back to his hometown to follow his dream of owning his own restaurant. At that time, as she was looking for a Birth Center to join so she could continue her work as a midwife, she was surprised to find zero freestanding Birth Centers serving her region. So, she decided to build her own and Birth Sanctuary Gainesville was born.
She is mother to four children, Jasmyn, Jaymie, Jayar and Jesse. She has two Miniature Schnauzers named Issa and Nucky. In her spare time, you can find her vlogging, blogging, reading, or enjoying the outdoors. Her most glorious times are when she finds ways to combine all of these facets and fabric of love together! She is beyond thrilled to be bringing the first freestanding birth center to the state of Alabama.