The Arizona State Board of Nursing has temporarily suspended two former midwives from the now-shuttered Willow Midwife Center for Birth and Wellness in Mesa, barring Wendy Shaw and Pamela Moran from providing maternity care or delivering babies until administrative law judges review their cases in September. The action follows complaints from multiple families who say their care at Willow ended in tragedy, including the deaths of two babies.
As reported by ABC15 Arizona, the nursing board investigated five nurse midwives who had worked at Willow, taking no action against a fifth midwife after an investigator found new information was not part of the original case. The board also tabled cases involving two additional Willow midwives for a future meeting. Shaw and Moran, according to the outlet, both worked at the Willow Midwife Center for Birth and Wellness in Mesa, which delivered hundreds of babies a year across three Valley locations before shutting down.
Among the families who filed complaints alleging substandard care were Dan and Carson Neisess, who reported that their baby, Winston, died days after being born at a Willow facility with the umbilical cord around his neck in 2023. The nursing board investigated Shaw after receiving five complaints, according to the same ABC15 report. Dan Neisess said nothing can bring his son back.
What Investigators Found in Moran’s Case
The board suspended Moran’s midwife certificate pending a full administrative law judge hearing after finding she failed to initiate a timely transfer of a laboring mother to the hospital, a case in which the laboring woman’s baby was stillborn. Investigators also found Moran discharged a new mother without adequate stabilization following a postpartum hemorrhage, per the ABC15 account. A board investigator further reported that medical records were altered in connection with the case…