Our Nurse-Midwives
All of our nurse-midwives are professional healthcare providers and registered nurses (RN) who have graduated from one of the advanced programs accredited by the American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM). Nurse-midwives must also pass a national certification examination and meet strict requirements set by state health agencies in all 50 states.
Megan Cleveland: Owner & Nurse-Midwife
Megan was raised in Burlington, Vermont. While earning her bachelor’s degree she volunteered as an emergency medical technician.
Megan became passionate about birth and women’s health while studying abroad in Uganda during nursing school. She worked side by side with local midwives and attended births in rural community hospitals.
She attended the University of Pennsylvania and earned a master’s degree in nurse-midwifery and women’s health. After graduating she taught undergraduate nursing and worked as a triage nurse in a high-risk obstetric clinic in Philadelphia. In 2016 Megan joined a busy midwifery practice in northern New Jersey that focused on low-intervention birth and waterbirths, both in the hospital and out-of-hospital settings.
Megan joined Southwest Midwives in May, 2018 and is excited to continue to provide midwifery care and support birth in the Four Corners region. She feels it is a privilege to serve women and families during birth and to be a part of their stories. Megan lives in Durango with her husband and son. They enjoy fly fishing, hiking, and sharing meals with family and friends.
Taylor Gonzalez: Nurse-Midwife
Born and raised in Georgia, Taylor brings warmth, curiosity, and a down-to-earth presence to her work as a Certified Nurse Midwife. With a Bachelor’s in Anthropology (from the University of Georgia) and a Master’s in Nurse-Midwifery (from Emory University), her approach to care is rooted in cultural humility, compassion, and a deep respect for each person’s unique journey.
Before becoming a midwife, she spent time supporting families navigating the challenges of displacement, homelessness, and incarceration. These experiences deeply shaped her commitment to reducing health disparities in her community and providing care that is equitable, empowering, and person-centered. As a midwife, she’s had the privilege of caring for families in a wide range of settings – from inner city hospitals and rural community clinics to federally qualified health centers (FQHCs), birth centers, and even at home. Taylor is passionate about supporting physiologic birth and brings the same thoughtful approach to each setting.
Taylor believes every person deserves respectful, individualized care, and she strives to create a supportive environment where her clients feel heard, empowered, and informed. Whether she’s attending a birth or offering guidance in the clinic, Taylor sees her role as a partner in care – there to educate, advocate, and walk alongside families as they make choices aligned with their values.
When she’s not catching babies, you’ll find Taylor hiking with her dogs, experimenting in the kitchen, or curled up with the latest romantasy novel. After living in other parts of Colorado, she’s thrilled to now call Durango home!
Amanda Maitland: Nurse-Midwife
Amanda Maitland joined Southwest Midwives in November 2024. Amanda was always passionate about healthcare, particularly bringing quality care to rural communities like the one she lived in as a child in rural New Mexico. During her undergraduate years studying Human Physiology at the University of Oregon, Amanda completed a study abroad program in Ghana where she caught her first baby and became hooked on pregnancy and birth. With the help of one of her mentors Melissa Cheney, Amanda found the career path that most aligned with her beliefs; providing holistic, patient centered, low intervention care for clients either wanting or needing a hospital birth. Amanda attended Columbia University for nursing school in Manhattan and returned to New Mexico to attend the University of New Mexico Nurse Midwifery program.
Amanda has worked in the Central Valley of California and in Southern Oregon providing perinatal services and gynecological services to underserved communities. In her free time, you can find Amanda spending time with her family, skiing, hiking with her dog, mountain biking, roadtripping in her VW camper van, practicing yoga, and learning new woodworking skills.
Haley Yerxa: Nurse-Midwife
Haley was born and raised in Switzerland, Belgium and the U.S. After graduating high school, she studied Biology and Environmental Studies in Minnesota, but through training as an EMT, she gravitated towards birth and reproductive health. After working in California, Nicaragua, and Oregon, she completed her nursing and midwifery studies at Yale School of Nursing, finishing her clinical rotations in Navajo Nation. She then moved to Alaska and practiced as a nurse-midwife for nearly three years, providing care in a hospital and freestanding birth center. Haley finds it a privilege to join the long tradition of midwifery. To her, midwifery means safeguarding normal physiologic birth, working with people in a personal and supportive way to make informed choices for their own health, and bearing witness to the strengths of individuals and families every day. In her time off you can usually find her in the mountains with her partner, daughter, and dog. Haley joined Southwest Midwives on June 1, 2021.
Heidi Zink: Nurse-Midwife
Heidi met perinatal wellness and birth expert Dr. Michel Odent when Heidi was 20 years old. The meeting was a catalyst for her and she soon became passionate about birth and women’s health. This passion started Heidi on a career path that would allow her to follow in two generations of nursing footsteps – those of her grandmother and mother.
Since 2004, Heidi has shared her talents, skills, and knowledge at Southwest Midwives. Heidi’s clients have appreciated her attention to each woman’s uniqueness along with her guidance for women to know the innate power of their bodies.
Heidi’s accreditations include a BA in biology, with minors in wellness and psychology from the University of Denver, an accelerated BS in nursing from Regis University, and an MS in nurse-midwifery from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center with honors from Sigma Theta Tau Honor Society. In 2020, Heidi completed Dr. Aviva Romm’s Women’s Functional and Integrative Medicine Professional Training Program.
Heidi enjoys Durango, which is home to generations of her family. She spends her free time with her husband, friends, and family. She also enjoys the exploration and solitude of hiking the trails with her dog, Rosie
Ashley Iverson: Locums Nurse-Midwife
Ashley Iverson, CNM, MSN is helping Southwest Midwives by filling in for other midwives’ time off.