April has introduced over 3,000 babies to their first day!
April started her career in maternity care as a labor and delivery nurse at Sunrise Hospital in Las Vegas. During her 5 years there, she helped bring over 1,500 babies into the world. At the time, Sunrise was only one of two hospitals in Las Vegas that had a level III neonatal intensive care unit. April saw a lot of high risk pregnancies and deliveries there, giving her invaluable experience in clearly knowing the difference between normal and abnormal births.
April was a bit surprised at how medicalized hospital births were. She questioned the necessity of many cesarean sections. Her concern led her to believe she could better serve families as a midwife. April spent the next two years earning her master’s degree in nurse-midwifery. Much of April’s student midwife years were spent in birth centers and at home births. After graduating from midwifery school, April began a hospital based practice at St. Rose Hospital. April introduced water birth, birthing stools, and many other natural child birth friendly options for mothers over a three year period. At the end of 2007 April fulfilled her long time dream of opening a home birth practice.
While the overwhelming majority of births are completely normal and require no intervention, April’s extensive experience in medicine gives her confidence in any situation.
Experience
Certified Nurse-Midwife & Certified Professional Midwife, Baby’s 1st Day, Las Vegas, NV — 2008-Present Founder and president of Baby’s 1st Day, Midwifery Services. Attending sixty home births per year. Providing complete antepartum, intrapartum, postpartum, and newborn care.
Certified Nurse-Midwife, Deseret Women’s Health Care, Henderson, NV — 2005-2008 Managing practice partner with collaborating OB/GYN, and physician assistant. Attended 240 hospital births per year. Cesarean first assistant in the operating room. Complete GYN care in office including family planning, menopausal management, and well woman care.
Certified Nurse-Midwife, Fremont Women’s Health Care, Las Vegas, NV — 2004-2005 Worked with four collaborating physicians in a busy OB/GYN practice. Complete GYN care provided including family planning, birth control, annual exams, menopausal management, colposcopy, IUD placement, and fertility care.
Student Nurse-Midwife, Frontier University, Hyden, KY — 2002-2004 Attended births in birthing centers, at home, and in the hospital. Attended 87 births as the primary midwife under supervision.
Registered Nurse Labor and Delivery, Sunrise Hospital, Las Vegas, NV — 2000-2004 Provided care to high risk antepartum women, routine intrapartum care including circulating operating room nurse, neonatal intensive care experience, and postpartum couplet care. Electronic fetal monitor certified, advanced cardiovascular life support trained, and neonatal resuscitation certified.
Education
Masters in Nursing Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH – 2004
Masters in Midwifery Frontier School of Nurse-Midwifery, Hyden, KY – 2004
Bachelors in Nursing University of Nevada Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV – 2000
Board Certifications
American College of Nurse Midwives Board certified as a nurse-midwife since 2004 – certification # 24678
North American Registry of Midwives Board certified as a certified professional midwife since 2008 – certification # 08030008
Licenses
Registered Nurse
Arizona license # RN160290
Nevada license # RN36201
Advanced Practice Nurse
Arizona license # AP3487
Nevada license # APN000807