Joanna Wilder - (she/her/ella)
MSN, APRN-NP, CNM, CPM
Joanna is a mom, a midwife, and a mentor. She has welcomed babies in many settings. She was first a nurse: 3 years in the hospital and 14 in a freestanding birth center. Joanna trained in a midwifery apprenticeship and became a certified professional midwife (CPM), serving her own home birth practice for eight years. After 40 years in the desert, she returned to her Oregon childhood roots in 2018. Joanna attended Frontier Nursing University to become a nurse practitioner with a specialty in midwifery (Certified Nurse Midwife), graduating in 2022. Joanna will graduate with a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) in 2024. Her focus: “Implementing Individualized Patient-Centered Postpartum Planning in the Third Trimester in a Rural Midwifery-first Practice”. This Quality Improvement pilot project will use a planning tool co-created by Kestrel Gates of buildyournestworkbook.com
Joanna is passionate about creating safe, inclusive spaces for individuals to feel at home in their bodies. She loves seeing folks own their journey and experience the power of respectful care. Joanna’s practice is grounded in a shared decision-making model, utilizing true informed consent as the individual owns each choice. One of her passions, birthed from her own story, is walking with folks as they heal from childhood sexual abuse, reclaiming and integrating their body story.
Joanna’s work is grounded in principles of community development. Thirty years in an immigrant neighborhood in Phoenix have created a deep love for the Latinx community, and her Spanish was learned “de la gente.” She fights for justice, engaging her own internal anti-racism work and identifying unexamined privilege. She actively speaks out to legislators and community leaders. To pass on her passion to the next generation, she teaches nursing students as adjunct faculty and precepts midwifery students.
Joanna is a lactation counselor and worked with a breastfeeding program focused on empowering Latinx women. She is finishing her herbal counselor program through Dr. Aviva Romm. She completed a trans-pregnancy course and continues to learn how to accompany all pregnant individuals.
Photo credit: Noleen Thurman Birth Photography
Photo credit: Noleen Thurman Birth Photography
Photo credit: Noleen Thurman Birth Photography
Photo credit: Noleen Thurman Birth Photography
When she is not wearing her midwife hat, Joanna enjoys walks in the forest or by the ocean, visiting the beavers at the marsh, doing puzzles, drinking tea, making gluten-free creations, and playing board games. She is currently learning to crochet so she can make baby hats as a human wends its way earthside.
Joanna has been married to one brave man for +37 years, who was born in Bolivia. She has six children, and her family tapestry is woven together through pregnancy, foster care, and adoption.
