Oregon Birth & Wellness Center

12/03/2025

✨ Preparing for your 2026 birth? ✨

Start your journey with peace and confidence:

1️⃣ Tour the birth center – see where your baby will arrive
2️⃣ Explore prenatal options – choose what feels right for you
3️⃣ Build your support team – the people who will lift you up

A calm, supported pregnancy starts with a little planning 💛

12/02/2025

12/01/2025

What a beautiful year it’s been 💛
From the first heartbeats to new beginnings, from our opening in 2022 to the birthing families we were honored to support in 2025, this year reminded us why we love what we do. Thank you to every family who trusted us on this journey.

11/27/2025

As we reflect this Thanksgiving, we’re deeply grateful for our beautiful community — the families who trust us, the babies who remind us of life’s wonder, and the team who pours their hearts into every birth. May your day be filled with warmth, gratitude, and sweet snuggles. 🍂✨
With love,
The Oregon Birth & Wellness Team

11/24/2025

🌿 Reintroducing Crystal Massey, MSN, CNM, NP – Executive Medical Director

Crystal’s journey in midwifery began with the birth of her oldest daughter in 2001, an experience that inspired her to dedicate her career to women’s and children’s health. She earned her BSN in 2012 and has extensive experience in Labor & Delivery and the NICU, holding certifications in RNC (High-Risk OB Nursing), ACLS, NRP, and ALSO. Crystal’s advanced skills and leadership include serving as Charge Nurse, preceptor, and contributing to emergency response protocols for obstetric care.

In 2015, she completed her Master’s in Nurse-Midwifery at Frontier Nursing University, training intensively in water birth and low-intervention approaches. Crystal has been a pioneer in Lane County, providing home birth and out-of-hospital services—especially for vulnerable populations.

Beyond midwifery, she specializes in holistic GYN care focused on fertility and hormone balance and is passionate about teaching, regularly precepting nursing and midwifery students. Crystal is also a Post-Master’s Family Nurse Practitioner student, expanding her ability to care for the whole family.

💛 She is thrilled to continue supporting families in creating empowered, joyful birth experiences as our Executive Medical Director.

11/23/2025

11/21/2025

11/19/2025

It’s appointment day — your day! 🌿
A moment to slow down, feel supported, and be truly seen. 💕

11/17/2025

NYTimes Letter to the Editor ✒️

Many of you may have already seen the NY Times article "The ‘Worst Test in Medicine’ is Driving America’s High C-Section Rate" (https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/06/health/electronic-fetal-monitoring-c-sections.html?unlocked_article_code=1.108.XT6J.Y2YuWc0Xc01e&smid=url-share ).
AABC sent a Letter to the Editor in response! Since our letter did not get published, we wanted to share it with you all here.
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Dear Editor,

Thank you for highlighting the overreliance on continuous electronic fetal monitoring (EFM) and its role in rising Cesarean rates.

There is a solution to this epidemic. Midwifery-led birth centers use intermittent fetal monitoring instead of continuous EFM. They are an evidence-based model that delivers outcomes comparable to those of the top nations globally by offering holistic, family-centered care that protects and empowers patients, thereby enhancing both physical and mental well-being in our community.

Birth centers are fully integrated into the healthcare system and guided by principles of prevention, safety, appropriate medical intervention, and cost-effectiveness. While midwifery care can occur elsewhere, birth centers are unique in offering this dedicated, physiologic model.
Outcomes speak for themselves:
-Cesarean rates under 6%
-NICU admissions less than half the national average
-Low rates of interventions with superior overall outcomes

These results demonstrate the clinical excellence and fiscal prudence of the birth center model, reducing complications and costs while maintaining world-standard safety, lowering maternal mortality risk, and prioritizing maternal autonomy and satisfaction.

Respectfully,
Kate Bauer
Executive Director
American Association of Birth Centers
Perkiomenville, PA

11/17/2025

Dawn’s passion for delivering babies began early—first on an equine breeding farm “on baby watch” and later as a teen volunteer in the obstetrics unit at McKenzie-Willamette Hospital. She never gave up on her dream of working in Labor & Delivery. After graduating from Lane Community College in 1999, Dawn started her nursing career at McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center in Women’s Health & Birth, supporting families in labor and delivery, postpartum, and the Level II nursery.

In 2014, Dawn and her family moved to Burns, Oregon, where she worked in a critical access hospital across OB, med/surg, ER, and ICU. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Grand Canyon University in 2020 and completed her Master of Science in Nursing, Certified Nurse-Midwifery Program at Frontier Nursing University in 2024.

Dawn returned to Lane County to work with the amazing team at Oregon Birth & Wellness during her midwifery clinicals—and loved it so much, she decided to continue her career there as a midwife. She holds certifications in NRP (Neonatal Resuscitation Program), ALSO (Advanced Life Support in Obstetrics), BLS, and ACLS, and has spent years as an instructor for AWHONN Intermediate Fetal Monitoring and S.T.A.B.L.E., helping medical professionals maintain critical skills in fetal monitoring and newborn stabilization.

Now an empty nester, Dawn enjoys visiting her three grown children and cherishes the time she gets to spend with them.

💛 Passionate. Experienced. Dedicated. Dawn is here to support every family through the journey of birth.

11/14/2025

11/12/2025