Here is a picture of Katia with her goose!                                           She doesn't have any storks!

 CURRENT LICENSURE AND CERTIFICATION

• Certified Professional Midwife (CPM)
• Licensed Midwife (LM), State of New Mexico
• CPR Certified
• Neonatal Resuscitation Certified
• Bachelor of Arts Degree in Linguistics (University of Texas at El Paso, EL Paso, TX) 1979
• Masters of Public Health in Maternal and Child Health and International Health (Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, LA) 1983.
• Travel Abroad:  Europe (1974-1978, lived in Mexico (1979), lived in East Africa, training village health educators (1984-1988)
• Apprenticed with Las Cruces Midwife, 1990
• Midwifery Program, Maternidad La Luz, completed July 1991
• Permaculture Training (1996)
• Massage training (1997)
• Certified Health Coach (2010)
• Institute of Integrative Nutrition (2012)
  

BIRTH EXPERIENCE

Katia has attended about five hundred births since 1990.   She has been the primary attendant for over half of those births.  Much of her birth experience was at Maternidad La Luz, a birth center and midwifery school in El Paso, Texas.  After her training there she served as a staff midwife (2 years) and as a midwife educator and assistant academic director (7 years).  She is still on staff teaching the Herb and Homeopathy classes.

She started a home birth practice in 1992 and worked through to 1999 serving Dona Ana County.  After five years on sabbatical, Katia returned to midwifery and the health field.  She attended several births in 2006 as a requirement to renew her license, and started accepting clients in early 2007.

EDUCATION

• Bachelor of Arts Degree in Linguistics (University of Texas at El Paso, EL Paso, TX) 1979
• Masters of Public Health in Maternal and Child Health and International Health (Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, LA) 1983.
• Travel Abroad:  Europe (1974-1978, lived in Mexico (1979), lived in East Africa, training village health educators (1984-1988)
• Apprenticed with Las Cruces Midwife, 1990
• Midwifery Program, Maternidad La Luz, completed July 1991
• Massage training (1997)
• Permaculture Training (1997)
  
• Institute of Integrative Nutrition (2012)
• Mindful Based Eating Awareness Training (2013)
  

Background

Katia was born in New Mexico and raised in El Paso.  She has lived in Dona Ana county since 1989.  She is married and has one son born through natural childbirth in 1991.

She became interested in midwifery as a volunteer at a birth center in El Paso, Texas in 1979.  Following her volunteer service she explored many issues about birth, midwifery and women’s care.  She followed a traditional path of midwifery apprenticeship for her training always taking advantage of any formal or informal education and experience regarding birth and women’s issues. She originally worked with a Las Cruces Midwife and then did a formal training at Maternidad La Luz.  Her education was rounded out when she was a staff midwife and then as an educator at Maternidad.

Her political efforts for midwifery include serving on the New Mexico Licensed Midwifery Advisory Board.  Besides midwifery and public health, Katia has studied herbs and herbal remedies, homeopathic remedies, massage, nutrition and permaculture.  She is a Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) and a Licensed Midwife (LM) in New Mexico.

Katia has a solo practice, and only takes a few clients a year.  This makes it possible for her to have a close relationship with you.  However, she does not work alone.  Katia works with several area midwives to ensure backup and assistance at the births.  In addition to homebirth services, childbirth education and community education, Katia provides a variety of well woman care including annual exams.

Interests

Katia lives north of Las Cruces, New Mexico on 5 acres of land bordering the Rio Grande River.  Katia is trained in Permaculture (an agro-ecological design system) and enjoys growing things and learning plants and the healing properties of plants.  She loves massage, stained glass, herbology and going for walks along the river.