Nurse-Midwifery Alumni

Picture of Erin Stein posing with a patient and her newborn after birth.

Erin M. Stein, MSN, CNM, WHNP-BC

Erin graduated from the midwifery/women's health program at Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University in May of 2014. She is currently employed at the Charleston Birth Place in North Charleston, SC, the only free-standing birth center in the Low country.

She has been working with mothers and babies for over a decade in many different capacities, which ultimately led her to attending midwifery program and gaining employment in a primarily out-of-hospital birth setting.

Erin's journey began as a surgical scrub tech in the Birthing Center at UHS Wilson Memorial Hospital in Johnson City, NY. She worked there while finishing high school & throughout her undergraduate studies at Juniata College in Huntingdon, PA. Her original intention was to go to medical school to become an OB/GYN as she worked closely with the obstetricians every day. She loved her work and felt that that was the right decision for her at the time, but that all changed when she was exposed to the work of one of the CNMs and paid close attention to the difference in the care she provided, her respect for the woman and her family, and her overall trust in the natural process of birth. "I was in complete awe of her, her skills, and her basic presence in the room. My mind was quickly made up that going to medical school was the wrong choice for me and that going to midwifery school was absolutely the right choice for me."

"I chose FPB for the MN and MSN programs for the small classes and personalized education. My didactic and clinical education was well-rounded and individualized. If I had not been given the opportunity to travel to the Charleston Birth Place as a student nurse midwife during my integration semester, I know for a fact that I wouldn't be where I am today. I owe my job and success to FPB!"

Erin has been working at the Charleston Birth Place since October 2014. She enjoys the close knit community, providing individualized and evidence based care, and supporting the natural birth process. Most of the 238 births she has attended have been water births at the birth center, although some births have been attended at Trident Medical Center, the collaborative hospital for CBP. She precepts WHNP & CNM students and is also the current Secretary of the SC ACNM Affiliate.


Headshot of Debra DeHassLehr smiling.

Debra DeHass Lehr, MSN, CNM, FNP-BC

Debra received her BSN from Akron University, and immediately started in the midwifery program at the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing. As soon as she finished the MSN, she began working on her certification as a Family Nurse Practitioner.

Since graduating from CWRU, Debra has been employed as a Certified Nurse Midwife and Family Nurse Practitioner at Pomerene Family Care in Millersburg, Ohio, a busy practice which serves the rural Appalachian and Amish populations. She also volunteers time as a Medical Missionary in Guatemala with Refuge International.


Picture of Brittany Krotzer checking on a patient and their newborn infant in the hospital.

Brittany Krotzer, MSN, CNM

Brittany discovered the profession of Nurse Midwifery during her junior year in Juniata College as she was trying to decide where her science background was going to take her. Brittany had always wanted to find a profession that would allow her to live a life of service for others.

"I became passionate about midwifery and its ability to allow me to help improve and support the experience of women and families in health care and around birth," she says.

Since graduating from FPB in May 2012, Brittany has been working for a private OB/GYN practice and attend births at a community hospital in Glens Falls, New York where the majority of births are attended by midwives.

Photo by Manuel Aldana Photography


Picture of Katie Shannon holding two babies and smiling.

Katie Shannon, MSN, CNM

Katie graduated from the midwifery program at Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve in May of 2008. She began her career as a midwife at BirthCare and Women's Health, an independently run practice of midwives providing birth center and home birth services in Washington, D.C. In 2011, Katie moved on to work at Mary's Center for Maternal and Childcare in Washington, D.C., a federal loan repayment site, where she provides prenatal, postpartum and well woman services to women living in under-served communities. She has kept up with her passion for out-of-hospital birth by providing back up for independent midwives in the area who provide homebirth services. She is an active preceptor of midwifery students from schools around the country, and serves as adjunct faculty for a midwifery program in Washington, D.C. Katie lives in Beltsville, Maryland with her partner and their 20-month-old daughter.

"The education I received could not have been better. I feel like I had a very well rounded experience both in clinical placement sites and in didactic lectures," Shannon says. "The faculty were very experienced in education as well as current clinical practice, which helped keep them relevant to the constant changes that take place in clinical care. The Midwifery Program at CWRU was challenging, yet I felt I had the support of the faculty, and the education I received from there gave me the confidence I needed to succeed in my first job out of school."


Pictures of Carwyn Sposit smiling and holding a small child.

Carwyn Sposit, CNM, MSN, MN, B

Sposit is a graduate of the FPB Midwifery class of 2014 and Grad Entry class of 2012. As a biology undergraduate at the Pennsylvania State University, she explored midwifery through books. She later volunteered on a postpartum unit, and become a volunteer doula. "Nurse Midwifery applied my love of biology to the uniqueness of the female body and inescapable spirituality of birth," she says. "I left my job in chemistry to persue my passion as a midwife, bringing with me critical-thinking and self organization skills."

FPB provided the opportunity to prepare Sposit for her RN licensure and continue for her MSN in Midwifery. "What I appreciated most about my midwifery education at FPB was the personalization applied to clinical placement--each site was what I needed to develop at that time, even if I didn't know it yet." Sposit's integration site placement with UCSD San Diego, unique because of its in-hospital birth center, provided a challenging experience that built skills in management of natural physiologic childbirth, and collaboration.

Sposit's looking forward to her career as a CNM with North Country OB/GYN of Hudson Headwaters Health Network in Glens Falls, NY. What excites her about this practice is its commitment to midwifery care and the underserved population of the Adirondack region. The Adirondacks will also give her the opportunity to get fresh air while running trails, rock climbing, and snowboarding.


Headshot of LaTonya Martin smiling.

LaTonya Martin, ND, CNM, FNP

Since graduating from FPB School of Nursing in 2003, Martin has had the opportunity to work with a variety of cultures, nationalities, and economic states. She says she would have never thought she would travel outside of Ohio to practice, let alone Miami, Florida. Through her scholarship with the National Health Service Corps, Stergis was able to secure employment with a population of clients well deserving of the care of a CNM.

"This is where I found a good sense of community as well as learning the meaning of 'community health,'" she says.

After returning from Miami to Cleveland, she found another love -- teaching Obstetrical & Newborn Nursing and participating in research at the FPB School of Nursing.