SHORT BIO:Brynne Potter is a Certified Professional Midwife. She has worked in the field of midwifery since 1991 and has attended home births as a primary midwife for over 10 years. She is also member of the North American Registry of Midwives (NARM) Board of Directors and most recently co-founded Private Practice, makers of electronic charting software for midwives. Brynne frequently speaks on multiple topics, (all of which can provide CEUs for midwives) and writes on her company and personal blogs.
LONG BIO:
I decided to be a midwife when I was 20 years old. My spark was an interest in empowerment through self healing and natural remedies. I had started learning about herbal remedies for myself and that led to lots of reading about all the bad things that happen to us when we are young that can become wounds and illnesses we have to “heal”. It occurred to me that if we can start babies off right, maybe they won’t have so much healing to do. I started catching babies in 1991, with a live in apprenticeship (oh the things we can do before we have kids of our own..) with a midwife in Mississippi.
In 1992, after the birth of my first child, Max, at home in Virginia (we called him “a career move”), I began assisting at births in the Charlottesville area. I attended home, birth center, and hospital births as an assistant to anyone who would have me. Between 1993 and 2001 I attended over 100 births and worked with 6 different midwives who had very different training and practice styles. I also had my second child, Jeremy, at home in 1996.
In 2002, I began attending home births as a primary midwife. I simultaneously began the systematic documentation and training to qualify for the Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) credential. In 2005, I received my CPM certification. It was a crazy year, as I also served as the Legislative Coordinator for the Commonwealth Midwives Alliance (CMA), living in a hotel in Richmond so that I could spend every day lobbying our legislators to pass our CPM licensure bill. The work paid off for me personally, as the bill passed and I received my Virginia license in early 2006. At this time I have attended approximately 400 home births.
I currently sit on the Board of Directors for the North American Registry of Midwives (NARM), the credentialing agency that oversees the CPM credential. They recruited me after our bill passed so that I could help work with other states who are seeking licensure. I also continue to serve CMA as the Public Relations Director and serve on the Advisory Board of the VABirthPAC.
In 2010, I co-founded Private Practice. A company that makes electronic charting software for midwives.
I spend a lot of my time these days traveling the country speaking to midwives on multiple topics, (all of which can provide CEUs for midwives). I also write on my company and personal blogs.
I am based in Charlottesville, VA.
Contact me at brynne@getprivatepractice.com
Recent Presentations:
MAR 6-7, 2013
Institute of Medicine’s Research Issues in the Assessment of Birth Settings Workshop
Washington, DC
Presentations:
- Perspectives from Providers
SEP 27-28, 2012
Midwives Alliance of North America Conference
Asilomar, CA
Presentations:
- New Norms for the Health Record; Innovations in Technology, Social Media, and Health Care Reform that Influence Quality of Care, Reimbursement, and Access to Midwifery
- US Perspective on ICM Global Standards
- Federal Initiatives for Informed Consent and Shared Decision Making
AUG 2-3, 2012
Data Definitions Summit
Washington, D.C.
Presentations:
- A stakeholder invited to help define common data definitions for maternity care research and reporting.
JUL 16, 2012
Consumer Consortium on eHealth Engagement Summit
Washington, D.C.
Presentations:
- Private Practice – EHR for Midwives: Midwives are leading the way in patient engagement
JUN 4-6, 2012
Health Data Initiative Forum III – The Health Datapalooza
Washington, D.C.
Presentations:
- Private Practice was featured as one of the top 50 most innovative Health Information Technology (HIT) companies.
MARCH 16-19, 2012
CPM Symposium
Washington, DC
Presentations:
- NARM: Expanding CPM Eligibility Requirements in the Global Context
- Health Care Reform and the Midwives Model of Care: Opportunities and Challenges for the Integration of CPMs
FEB 16-20, 2012
MANA Western Region Conference
Phoenix, AZ
Presentations:
- High Tech Tools for Low Tech Providers
- Informed Consent Process for Midwives
FEB 1, 2012 – 5:30p – 8pm
MAWS
Shoreline Conference Center
Mt. Rainier Room
Seattle, Washington
Presentations:
- Federal Initiatives for Person-Centered Maternity Care:
Opportunities and Challenges for Midwives
JAN 31, 2012 – 12pm – 4pm
Oregon Midwifery Council
Alma Education and Movement Center
1233 SE Stark
Portland, Oregon 97214
Presentations:
- High Tech Tools for Low Tech Providers
- Informed Consent Process for Midwives
JAN 20-21, 2012
Kansas Midwives Alliance Conference
Wichita, Kansas
Presentations:
- Preceptor Apprentice Relationships
- Charting for Midwives
- NARM and the CPM Process
- High Tech Tools for Low Tech Providers
- Informed Consent Process for Midwives
NOV 9-11, 2011
Midwives Alliance 2011 joint conference between MANA and the Canadian Association of Midwives.
Niagara Falls, Ontario
Presentations:
- Patient-Centered Health Records are the Key to a Health Maternity Care System
- Informed Consent and the New Health Care Laws (co-presentation with Illysa Foster, CPM, MEd)
- Preceptors are Educators (co-presentation with Suzy Myers, CPM, MPH)
SEP 29-OCT 1, 2011
Midwives Alliance of Florida Annual Conference
Melbourne, FL
Presentations accepted for FL CEUs:
- High-Tech Tools for Low-Tech Providers
- Informed Consent and the New Health Care Laws
JUN 13-23, 2011
International Confederation of Midwives 29th Triennial Congress
Durban, South Africa
I attended as a representative of the U.S. Read about my journey and what I learned about Global Midwifery and Maternity care here.