OBGYN North Welcomes Dr. Mary Mirto to the Practice

We have had a lot of changes to the practice lately and we couldn't be happier to add so many incredible women to our staff. We are so thrilled to have Dr. Mary Mirto join us and we look forward to introducing her to our patients, along with the four new midwives who have already become a part of our OBGYN North and Natural Beginning Birth Center family!

Dr. Mirto is an obstetrician-gynecologist in Austin and is affiliated with St. David's Medical Center. She received her medical degree from Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine and has been in practice for 21 years. 

OBGYN North and Natural Beginning Birth Center Introduce Kathleen Hewitt

Our staff has had the opportunity to get know Kaye over the past month, but if you haven’t had a chance to meet her we hope you will soon! We’re so glad she joined us and look forward to having her experience on staff to serve our patients. Here’s a little more about her background, as with all of us, if you’d like to know more, please just ask!

Kaye received her BSN from Old Dominion University while her husband was stationed in Virginia in the Navy. With ten years’ experience as an L&D nurse in Virginia and Wisconsin, she began post-graduate studies at University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio and received her MSN in Women’s Health and certification as a Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner. She accepted a position as provider and clinic manager at the University of Texas Medical Branch rural clinics in Beaumont, Orange and Port Arthur providing obstetrical/prenatal and gynecological care to low-income women in Southeast Texas for 3 ½ years. 

In 1995, she left UTMB to pursue her life-long dream of becoming a nurse in the US Navy. While stationed at Portsmouth Naval Hospital, she was deployed to the aircraft carrier, USS John C. Stennis, and provided acute Well Woman care to approximately 400 active duty females. She was then stationed in Rota, Spain, where she became interested in the cultural diversity of how women’s health care is viewed and provided in, not only Europe, while caring for Spanish dependent wives and daughters, but also in East Africa, while deployed to Tanzania, providing medical care to the women of the Maasai.

While stationed at Parris Island, S.C, her pregnant mothers frequently asked her if she would deliver their babies, and she had to say that WHNPs do not deliver babies. Midwifery became the culmination of her passion to provide education and empowerment to women in their health care choices. She was accepted into the Navy’s Duty Under Instruction program to attend Philadelphia University Institute of Midwifery, receiving her certification as a Certified Nurse Midwife in 2004, and began her midwifery practice at the US Marine Corps base in 29 Palms CA, and continued providing evidence-based, holistic , empowering midwifery care in Okinawa, Japan, and Bremerton, Washington. 

Following her retirement from active duty, she worked as a locum tenens provider for the Indian Health Service in South Dakota, Oklahoma, and Arizona, ingraining an even greater knowledge and appreciation of the beauty, strength, and diversity of women in childbirth when they “listen to their bodies”. After a year and a half teaching the midwifery model of care to OB/GYN medical residents at San Antonio Military Medical Center, Kaye longed to return to clinical practice and is very excited to be part of the OBGNorth team of physicians, Nurse Practitioners, and CNMs who embrace “being with women and their families throughout the life span.”

She is happy to be back in Texas, closer to her family and enjoys the time she spends with her sons and grandchildren. In her spare time, she enjoys sewing, hiking with her dog, and world traveling.

Please help join us in welcoming Kaye to OBGYN North and Natural Beginning Birth Center!

OBGYN North and Natural Beginning Birth Center Introduce Michelle Hughes

Last month, Michelle Hughes joined our staff and has already begun delivering babies at NBBC. We’re so glad to have her and look forward to introducing her to all of our patients. 

Michelle began her passion for caring for women while in nursing school during the early 1990s. She found her calling during her first obstetric rotation, when she witnessed her first birth. She was lucky enough to receive primary training at a hospital that provided evidenced-based care with strong collaborative relationships between the physicians and nurse-midwives. This set the tone for how she believes obstetric care should be provided.

Upon graduating with a Bachelors of Science for nursing, Michelle moved to Memphis, TN, where she worked for 3 years as a labor and delivery nurse, providing care to inner city, at risk women. When her husband's career brought them in Austin, she went searching again for a place she could serve the neediest, and became a labor and delivery nurse at Brackenridge Hospital for the next 11 years. While there, she worked with nurse-midwives, physicians, and doctors in training. She worked with both Kathy Harrison-Short, CNM and Tesa Miller, MD while there, and is happy to be reunited with them.

It was during her time at Brackenridge that Michelle and Stephen began their family. She birthed her first child with one of the wonderful midwives she worked with, in what was then called the Alternative Birthing Center at Brackenridge. The power that this birth gave Michelle fueled her drive to assist women in achieving the birth they desire. Her second child was another unmedicated hospital birth with a caring physician colleague because there was a medical indication for a hospital birth and there were no hospital-based midwives in Austin at that time. While this doctor supported her birth choices completely, a desire to become a midwife and to help give women more midwifery options grew.

Michelle waited until her youngest daughter started school before going to graduate school herself. In 2011, she graduated with a Masters of Science in Nursing, specializing in Midwifery. She became a CNM at Ft. Hood, where she caught almost 500 babies in four years before coming to OBGYN North. She is so excited to be in Austin again, at a practice that offers women choice in childbirth, with physicians and midwives who feel as passionately about that as she does.

Michelle grew up an Air Force brat, moving many times before landing in Vermont, which is where she met and married Stephen 22+ years ago. They have been in Austin since 2000, and love it here! They have two beautiful daughters, a cat, a bearded dragon, and two guinea pigs. She enjoys spending time with family, reading, knitting, and is training to run her first 5K.

With a Bachelors of Science in Nursing from the University of Vermont in 1997 and a Masters of Science in Nursing, specializing in Midwifery, from the University of Cincinnati in 2011 we know Michelle will be a great addition to our team!

OBGYN North and Natural Beginning Birth Center Anticipate Bridget Kenny's May Start Date

It’s only the beginning of April, but we can hardly wait for Bridget Kenny to join our practice next month. 

A graduate of University of Pennsylvania and Medical University of South Carolina, she has been a practicing nurse-midwife since in 2008. She has worked in a busy private practice, a birth center, and a community health clinic. 

A firm believer in the midwifery model of care, Bridget works to guide women and their families through childbirth, labor, and then later throughout their reproductive lifespan. She is currently studying to become a lactation consultant and dabbles in aromatherapy. She would like to incorporate aromatherapy in both prenatal care and during labor as she joins our practice.

After spending two brutal winters in Chicago, Bridget is excited to be back in warmer temperatures and closer to family. When she isn’t helping out patients at NBBC, you might find her at a yoga studio somewhere in Austin, running along Town Lake or just hanging out with her boston terrier, Hody.

OBGYN North and Natural Beginning Birth Center Welcome Jessica Good

We are so glad to have Jessica Good join our team of midwives and hope you have the chance to meet her soon!

Jessica is passionate about the partnership between an individual and her provider, with a focus on using education and preventative care to promote health. She believes in presence, being fully available to patients, listening and using her knowledge to guide, rather than treat each individual and family.

Jessica was born and raised in Texas. She attended The University of Texas at Austin for her undergrad, with a degree in Human Biology and a nursing degree. She went on to get her Masters in Midwifery at The University of Washington in Seattle.

Jessica has worked as a midwife in several settings, including a private midwifery practice in Seattle and a high-risk full scope clinic/hospital providing care to the underserved. Her passion lies in the normal birth process, trusting and empowering women through their journey to motherhood.

Jessica spends all of her free time with her amazing husband and two boys, age 8 and 3, one of which was born at home. She also enjoys running, cooking and gardening in her spare time. 

As our team grows, we are increasingly thankful to have talented and experienced midwives dedicated to women’s health modeling the type of care we have always provided for our patients.