Amy Willen CNM

Received her Masters degree in 2004 from Vanderbilt University and went on to develop a diverse midwifery background from attending births in a variety of settings: large university hospitals, small community hospitals, freestanding birth centers, and individual homes.

While studying nurse-midwifery in Nashville, she was grateful to also learn from Ina May Gaskin and the midwives at The Farm in Summertown, TN.  Originally from Minnesota, Amy worked in Texas at both Holy Family Birth Center and the University of Texas Medical Branch before moving back to the Midwest.  Holy Family Birth Center is a freestanding birth center on the Texas/Mexico border and is where Amy strengthened her roots in out-of-hospital birth.  She went on to attend home births and hospital births for one year in Chicago with a small private practice before joining West Suburban Midwife Associates, where she enjoys using her experience with out-of-hospital birth.

She has supported grassroots efforts in Illinois to pass the Home Birth Safety Act, which would license Certified Professional Midwives and provide women more access to home birth providers in Illinois. 

Amy lives in Chicago, and when she’s not catching babies, she practices yoga regularly.  Amy is also involved in Chicago’s firedancing community and can sometimes be seen spinning fire in the warmer months. When she can, she loves to travel and has spent time in India, Southeast Asia, Europe, Central and South America.  She speaks Thai, which she learned while living in Thailand, and is also fluent in Spanish.

Amy strongly believes in a woman's right to be informed and choose how and where she wants to give birth, and she is confident in providing care tailored to those individual choices.