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<td width="585" height="90" valign="bottom"><img src="graphics/BioTitle.gif" alt="Biography" width="553" height="80" /></td>
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<td height="569" valign="top"> <p align="justify"><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="3"><em><font color="#9CB6E0" size="6"><strong><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="3"><em><font color="#9CB6E0" size="6"><strong><font size="5"><img src="graphics/biopic.jpg" width="150" height="181" align="left" /></font></strong></font></em></font><font size="5">Laura
Gilbert </font></strong></font></em></font> <font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><em>was
born in El Paso, Texas but spent her childhood in Michigan and Northern
Indiana. Goshen, Indiana has been her home since 1983.</em></font></p>
<p align="justify"><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><em>Laura
first became interested in midwifery in her teenage years after
witnessing the hospital birth of her sister, Sarah, in 1989. Her
mother had desired a homebirth but could not find a midwife and
she told Laura that the birthing experience could be much more positive
than her hospital experience.</em></font></p>
<p align="justify"><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><em>Laura
read about nutrition, women's health and midwifery on her own until
early 1993 when she returned to the place of her birth for a three-month
internship at <a href="http://www.casamidwifery.com/index.html" target="_parent">Casa
de Nacimiento</a> in El Paso, Texas. Casa de Nacimiento is a freestanding
birth center run by non-nurse-midwives who serve the mainly Latino
population of El Paso and Juarez, Mexico. During those three months,
Laura attended 85 births and "caught" nearly 30 babies. "Casa" was
the ideal place for Laura to begin her education because the true,
natural rhythm of birth has been preserved there. Few people see
so many labors and births progress <a href="http://www.gentlebirth.org/ronnie/birthrf.html" target="_parent">unhindered
and with such success</a> as at Casa. </em></font></p>
<p align="justify"><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><em>Upon
returning from El Paso, Laura enrolled at Goshen College while working
as a birth assistant to a direct-entry midwife with a homebirth
practice. While working with the direct-entry midwife, Laura began
to witness the complete course of pregnancy from prenatal visits,
to childbirth and postpartum home visits. This experience led Laura
to fall in love with homebirth and appreciate the special relationship
that people have with their midwives. After more self-study Laura
passed the North American Registry of Midwives <a href="http://www.mana.org/narm/" target="_parent">(NARM)</a>
written exam in 1995. </em></font></p>
<p align="justify"><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><em>After
two years away from school, Laura returned to <a href="http://www.goshen.edu/nursing/" target="_parent">Goshen
College</a> in early 1996 with a major in nursing and the goal to
become a nurse-midwife. While her roots were in lay or direct-entry
midwifery, Laura recognized that a career in nurse-midwifery would
provide greater opportunities and ability to be available to more
women. While the nursing school curriculum often was not concentrated
on women's and infants' health, Laura appreciated the broad education
in health as well as the introduction to the medical culture. During
nursing school she continued to attend births as an assistant to
several different birth attendants: including two nurse-midwives
attending homebirths and family physicians at New Eden Care Center,
a freestanding birth center in Shipshewana, Indiana.</em></font></p>
<p align="justify"><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><em>Laura
graduated with honors from nursing school in the spring of 1999.
She married Ryan Stoy in the summer of 1999 and began <a href="http://www.georgetown.edu/schnurs/grad/midwife.htm" target="_parent">Georgetown
University's Nurse-Midwifery Program</a> in Washington, D.C. in
the fall. While she attended births in several hospitals during
graduate school, her main integration experience was with <a href="http://www.birthcare.org/" target="_parent">BirthCare</a>
a practice of nurse-midwives in Alexandria, Virginia who helped
women give birth at home or in a freestanding birth center. Laura
graduated from Georgetown University in December of 2000. </em></font></p>
<p align="justify"><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><em>On
December 4<sup>th</sup>, 2000 Laura gave birth to her daughter,
Iyla Maeve Stoy, at home in Goshen, Indiana. The pregnancy and labor,
while hard at times, progressed safely and naturally. Motherhood
has certainly added to Laura's understanding of her clients' experiences.
</em></font></p>
<p align="justify"><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><em>When
Iyla was only six weeks old, Laura passed the <a href="http://www.midwife.org/" target="_parent">ACNM</a>
<a href="http://accmidwife.org/" target="_parent">accreditation
exam</a> in January 2001. After spending a few months mothering
Iyla, with wonderful support from her husband, Ryan, Laura opened
her homebirth midwifery practice in August 2001. </em></font></p>
<p align="justify"> </p>
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