Midwife Bios
Helen Jolly Nelson, LM, CPM
Amy Allred, LM, CPM
Lisa Thomas, LM, CPM
Mollie Roe - Miller, LM
Betsy Robinett, LM, CPM, Partera
Roxanne Anderson, LM, CPM
Rebekah Myrick, Student Midwife
Betty Beasley, Office Manager
Helen Jolly Nelson, LM, CPM
~ Helen, owner and director of Family Birth Services, is a pioneer in midwifery in the North Texas area. In the early 70's, when midwives were scarce, she was asked by families to share her experience as a home birth mother. She began attending births in 1972 in order to serve families who desired a home birth. She soon realized that she had a calling to midwifery and in 1976 she served in a formal apprenticeship with a labor and delivery nurse who taught her practical skills. Helen attended any workshops available and read everything she could find to further her knowledge. She also received individual instruction from a family practice physician who was available as needed to see her clients. In 1980 she attended the American Academy of Midwifery.
Helen is a founding member of the North Texas Midwives Association, the Association of Texas Midwives, and the Midwives Alliance of North America. She previous served as a La Leche League leader and state officer and as a board member of NAPSAC, National Association of Parents and Professionals for Safe Alternatives in Childbirth. She is currently serving on the Texas Department of State Health Services Midwifery Board.
Helen has been actively training midwives since the beginning of her practice and women have come from all over North America to study and apprentice with her. Many midwives currently practicing in North Texas served apprenticeships or internships with Helen. She has many "daughters" and "granddaughters" in midwifery. In 1995 her FBS midwifery course was approved by the Texas Department of Health as an approved avenue for becoming a documented midwife in Texas.
Since 1976, Helen has been the primary midwife at over 2,600 births and has assisted and/or supervised approximately 700 additional births.
In October, 2004, Helen retired from actively delivering babies but she still oversees the day-to-day operations of the birth center. Helen is a wife, mother and grandmother. She and husband, Mike Nelson, have an adopted daughter, Ashley, who keeps them active.
Amy Allred, LM, CPM
~ Amy originally contacted Family Birth Services in 1988 with the desire of training to become a midwife. She learned, however, that the waiting list to begin training was a year and a half long at that time.
Believing that another opportunity would come in God's timing, she did some midwifery study on her own and moved on to other things. She attended Youth with a Mission in Hawaii and became a youth leader through her church.
Amy began working at the Duncanville Pregnancy Crisis Pregnancy Center in 1997 and is now on staff there. Through Amy's connections with young women in unplanned, crisis, pregnancies she attended births as labor support which rekindled her interest. In 1999, Amy was accepted into the apprenticeship program at Family Birth Services. She graduated in December, 2000, and shortly thereafter received her Texas documentation and became a CPM, Certified Professional Midwife.
With her compassionate nature, she strives to see that each of her clients has a warm, comforting and memorable birth.
Lisa Thomas, LM, CPM
~ Lisa came on staff at Family Birth Services in 2006. Raised in Southwest Missouri, Lisa began her journey to midwifery in 1999 and moved to Texas in 2004 to complete her studies and begin her practice. Greatly enjoying the academic as well as clinical aspects of midwifery, Lisa also takes an active role in teaching the students at Family Birth Services.
Lisa's calm, friendly personality combined with her confident and professional style easily gains women's trust. Offering competent and personal care, she especially excels in nurturing women who are eagerly expecting their first baby or their first out-of-hospital birth. She enjoys answering questions and calming their fears as they experience this miraculous time in their lives. She is blessed by watching the hand of God in her clients� lives through the miracle of birth. One of her greatest delights in midwifery has been delivering her nephews and niece.
When not involved in midwifery, Lisa enjoys the outdoors, cooking, spending time with her family, and especially spoiling her nephews and niece!
Mollie Roe - Miller, LM
~ My journey into midwifery began at the young age of 19. I had always been fascinated with the way the body worked and had planned on becoming a Doctor. But one day I met another midwife and I knew that is what I was going to do. So within a month I was enrolled in a Midwifery School and I was on my way!
I have been a homebirth midwife for over 11 yrs. Homebirth is my passion and with each birth I attend I am more and more amazed in the birthing process. With careful and non-invasive monitoring, letting nature take its course in birth, the arrival of your baby in the comfort of your own home is an experience of a lifetime.
Mollie is also a Licensed Massage Therapist specializing in Prenatal Massage and Infant Massage.
Betsy Robinett, LM, CPM, Partera
~ I was born to missionary parents in Durango, Mexico. I was raised there and enjoyed a childhood that was rich and beautiful. I learned Spanish and English at the same time, and so I enjoy being bilingual with no accent in either language!
After the births of my three children, I felt that I could have birthed them at home. The only problem was, in my part of Texas, there were no midwives in the late 80s and early 90s. By 1997 I knew that I wanted to be a midwife; it was a knowledge that I had deep within. But I also knew that being a midwife would take a lot of time, and I still had young children at home, so I waited.
By 2002, I was ready to begin my midwifery studies, and I did. I searched for a midwife to teach me, but I lived so far from any midwives that no one was willing to take me as a student, until Helen Jolly Nelson took a chance on me. I am so very grateful to her for her willingness to train me. I started apprenticing as a student at Family Birth Services in September 2003, and finished in February 2005. My preceptors were Helen, April Pierce, Molly Germash, and Amy Allred. I completed the Association of Texas Midwives Midwifery Training Program.
Since then I have briefly served on the Education Committee for the Association of Texas Midwives Program. I am an approved preceptor for the ATM-MTP as well as for the North American Registry of Midwives (NARM). I have opened up a new area of Texas to midwifery services, serving my rural Comanche County as well as parts of 14 surrounding counties for the last six years.
Now I am coming full circle and am a staff midwife with Family Birth Services. I hope to give back to Helen and FBS some of what they gave me. I love serving Helen's clientele, especially the Hispanic community, as one of Dallas/Ft. Worth's few Spanish-speaking midwives.
Roxanne Anderson, LM, CPM
~ Roxanne Anderson apprenticed at Family Birth Services from 1988 until 1990. During that time she attended many births with Helen Jolly Nelson and learned directly from her, picking up much of Helen’s style of midwifery. After her apprenticeship, Roxanne worked four years as an independent midwife. In 1995 she stopped practicing to get married and had three home births of her own. When she unexpectedly became a single mom, she returned to Family Birth Services in 2010 to complete another internship for re-certification. She is now a CPM, back on staff at Family Birth Services as the Apprentice Director, and taking occasional clients of her own. She home-schools her three children, currently ages 11, 13, and 14, and in her spare time serves as the Missions Director at her church. She also makes two trips a year to Liberia, West Africa, where she is working to build and open a birthing clinic (www.bestwa.org). Her style of midwifery is highly relational, supportive, and instructive.
Rebekah Myrick, Student Midwife
~ Rebekah was raised in a conservative Christian home in Alabama and taught at home with her two older sisters. At the age of thirteen Rebekah became interested in midwifery. In the following years she pursued other interest including teaching character in the public schools of Oklahoma City, going on several mission trips and serving in Mongolia.
Rebekah began pursuing midwifery and witnessed her first birth in 2003. This experience caused her to question her ability to be a midwife but increased her dependence on the Lord. She became a birth doula in 2007 assisting in several births at homes and hospitals. She has enjoyed assisting with the births of four of her nieces and nephew.
In June 2010, Rebekah began midwifery training with the Association of Texas Midwives and her apprenticeship with Family Birth Services. She is grateful to be at Family Birth Services learning from their wonderful midwives and serving the clients. She is especially honored that clients choose her for their care.
When Rebekah completes her training she hopes to use midwifery skills on the mission field serving other missionaries and impoverished women. She enjoys reading, sewing, being with her family and playing with her seven nieces and nephews.
Betty Beasley, Office Manager
~ I first heard of Family Birth Services when my sister-in-law had two of her babies here and was very pleased with the care she received from the midwives. Let me share my story with you. My first child, Joshua, was born in 1986 in a hospital because that is the way it was done back then. It was not the experience I had hoped for. When I discovered that I was expecting my second child in 1988 I contacted FBS and made an appointment to meet with Helen Jolly Nelson who I later learned is a legend in the midwifery community. Jeremy was born at the birth center and it was such a beautiful experience that I couldn't stop talking about it. I just could not believe that more people didn't know about this wonderful, loving way to have a baby.
During my pregnancy with Jeremy I usually went for my checkups after work and I was often Helen's last appointment of the day so we were able to spend time talking and became friends. One day I received a call from Helen and she offered me a job! I began work there on November 17, 1989, one of the happiest days of my life (no, really!). At the time I didn't know that I was already expecting my 3rd child. In June of 1990 I gave birth to my daughter, Jennifer, and it was another wonderful experience. Helen did fuss at me a bit when she came in the next morning and found me typing up Jennifer's birth certificate! Jennifer accompanied me to work while she was nursing and the apprentices at that time spoiled her with lots of hugs and walking and rocking if I needed to work and she wanted attention.
My last child, Jonathan, was born in 1994 and I used an intern for my delivery. Helen was babysitting at my mother-in-law's in home day care so that my mother-in-law could attend the birth as she had never been with me before. Helen's adopted daughter attended that day care when Helen was working so it worked out O.K. It turned out to be my hardest delivery and Helen and I missed each other but Mrs. Beasley was thrilled to be a part of the experience and was a wonderful support. To me no pain medication can compare to having the people you want and need around you for support and loving reassurance. I enjoyed the jacuzzi tub and being able to move around and change positions. Like his older sister had done Jonathan spent his days with me at the birth center while he was nursing.
Working here has always been special to me. I have enjoyed watching families grow from the birth of their first child to taking home the third, fourth or even tenth child. We now are in to the second generation as we deliver babies for men and women who were born here themselves. We feel as if we are a part of these wonderful families and it is a joy and a privilege to watch these families grow.
As for my actual job, I do everything from answering the phone, scheduling appointments, billing insurance companies, working out payment schedules with clients, explaining paternity forms, inventorying and ordering supplies and keeping the midwives in line.
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