Educating the next generation of midwives.

Belinda K. Lashea, MSN, CNM

Part-time Midwifery Faculty and PhD Candidate, East Carolina University College of Nursing

When I began the nurse-midwifery graduate program at ECU in 2013, I was a midwife, who had become a nurse, who was now becoming a midwife (again). Each of these experiences has certainly shaped my approach to midwifery, but even more so, they have inspired a deep passion in me to help shape the future of midwifery in NC. My goals are simple, yet vastly complex, and they are centered around preserving the arts of midwifery in modern midwifery education programs.

In my dissertation work, I have incorporated the Bass Model of Holistic Reflection into the midwifery curriculum for the students that I teach at ECU. Through deep reflective dialogue, student midwives engage in transformative learning that helps them not only make sense of their clinical experiences, but also to take those experiences deeper into what it really means to be a midwife. This work supports their budding midwifery identity and offers support for women’s ways of knowing that include intuition and experience, herbal healing, energy work, and spirituality; in addition to empiric knowledge and midwifery philosophy.

Curriculum Vitae

My background in direct-entry midwifery and herbalism contributes significantly to my current nurse-midwifery practice. These philosophies also shape me as an educator and researcher. I am devoted to advancing the arts of midwifery within nurse-midwifery practice and education.

Degrees

MSN

East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, 2016 College of Nursing, Nurse-Midwifery Concentration

BSN

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC, 2012 School of Nursing

Education                                                   

Doctoral Student, PhD    East Carolina University, Greenville, NC,                              College of Nursing, 2021-present

UNIVERSITY EXPERIENCE

Clinical Instructor, East Carolina University, College of Nursing, Advanced Nursing Practice and Education Department, Nurse-Midwifery Concentration 2020-present

  • N6116 Nurse-Midwifery Management: Postpartal Care and Neonatal Care

  • N6117 Nurse-Midwifery Management: Integration Practicum

 Lecturer, East Carolina University, College of Nursing, Advanced Nursing Practice and Education Department, Nurse-Midwifery Concentration, annually from 2016-present.

  • Community Birth for Student Midwives

  • Wise Woman Herbal Workshop for Midwives

Lecturer, East Carolina University, College of Nursing, Advanced Nursing Practice and Education Department, Nurse-Midwifery Concentration, January 2023

  • Mini-Midwifery Business Institute: How to Start a Homebirth Practice

Lecturer, Yale University, School of Nursing, Midwifery & Women's Health Specialty, 2020

  • Community Birth for Student Midwives

Lecturer, SUNY Stony Brook University, School of Nursing, Midwifery Program, 2020

  • Community Birth for Student Midwives

 Lecturer, Frontier Nursing University, Midwifery Program, 2020

  • Wise Woman: Midwife as Healer

 Lecturer, University of New Mexico, College of Nursing, Midwifery Program, 2018

  • Wise Woman Herbal Workshop for Midwives

Lecturer, East Carolina University, Brody School of Medicine, Grand Rounds, 2017  

  • Homebirth

EMPLOYMENT

Private Practice Owner, Bear Root Midwifery, Wilmington, NC, 2022-present

  • Full-scope midwife in private practice, providing care for women from menarche through menopause, maternity, and homebirth care, postpartum, lactation, and newborn care

  • Primary care and well-woman care integrated with herbalism and western medicine

  • Consultant for midwifery and physician practices as well as the general community regarding herbal remedies

  • Regular speaker and presenter at herbal conferences and workshops

  • Herbal line of products for midwives and women’s health

Director of Midwifery, Staff midwife, Women’s Birth & Wellness Center, Chapel Hill, NC

  • Staff midwife 2016- 2022, Director of Midwifery 2021-2022

  • I practiced full-scope midwifery at a freestanding birth center, providing care for women from menarche through menopause, maternity, and birth care, postpartum, lactation, and newborn care

  • I had admitting privileges at UNC L&D, competent in Epic, hospital management, etc.

  • I served as a clinical preceptor for midwifery students

 Midwife, Partner/Owner, High Country Birth Services, Boone, NC

  • Midwife, 50/50 owner in a homebirth practice 2001-2007

  • Senior apprentice-turned-partner with Carolyn Weaver, CPM, in a small homebirth practice serving the tristate areas of Western NC, East TN, and Southwest Virginia

  • Apprenticed fulltime with Maggie Barry, CPM, the midwife who attended my homebirths, from 1998-2001

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES & AFFILIATIONS

Leadership

Doctoral Student Representative, Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Committee East Carolina University, College of Nursing 2022-present

President, NC Midwives Alliance (NCMA) 2016-present

Board member, NC Midwifery Education, Regulation, & Association (NCMERA) 2016-present

Member, former board member, former Chair of the Community Birth Committee, NC American College of Nurse-Midwives Affiliate (NCACNM) 2013-present

Presentations

Presenter, Heart~Womb Wisdom, 2022

Herbs for Sovereignty

Red Earth Herbal Gathering, Berthoud, CO

Organizer & Presenter, NC Community Birth Summit,2019

Multidisciplinary workshop, Greenville, NC

Organizer, NC Walk for Midwives 2019, 2020, 2022

Presenter, Unity among Midwives: We are stronger together, 2018 Carolina Birth Junkies Summer Island Retreat, Rock Hill, SC

Panelist, The Future of Midwifery with Henci Goer, Justine Clegg, & Karen Strange, 2018 Carolina Birth Junkies Summer Island Retreat, Rock Hill, SC

Presenter, Unity among Midwives: We are stronger together, 2016 Tristate ACNM Conference, Lake Junaluska, NC

Organizer & Presenter, Unity Day for Midwives, 2016 Chapel Hill, NC