About
Growing Family Birth Center was established in 2011.
We have had the privilege to serve over 500 families.
We have had the privilege to serve over 500 families.
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Debbie Cowart, CPM, LDM
Debbie’s passion is helping women and their families have a safe, gentle birth. Debbie believes a woman's body is designed to give birth, and she should be given the time, space, and support to let her body do what it is designed to do. She believes in helping prepare the couple for a lifetime of parenting, drawing on knowledge and personal experience.
Debbie has been involved in birth work since 1981, when she started attending births as a Labor Coach (now known as a Doula). From 1989 to 1991, she worked with a midwife as a birth assistant attending home births. In 1991, she started her own small home birth practice. In 2008, she worked at Sacred Waters Community Birthing Center in Eugene, Oregon (now closed) for a year and provided postpartum care at Bella Vie in Salem, Oregon, for a couple of years while continuing her home birth practice. In April 2011, she opened her own Licensed Freestanding Birth Center in Lebanon, Oregon, where she has had the privilege to serve over 500 families through the birth center.
Debbie has 8 children, 15 grandchildren, and 1 great-grandchild. In her free time, she likes to spend time with family and friends, knitting (mostly hats for the babies she delivers), making quilts for her grandchildren, cooking, going to community events, and enjoying the outdoors.
Debbie’s passion is helping women and their families have a safe, gentle birth. Debbie believes a woman's body is designed to give birth, and she should be given the time, space, and support to let her body do what it is designed to do. She believes in helping prepare the couple for a lifetime of parenting, drawing on knowledge and personal experience.
Debbie has been involved in birth work since 1981, when she started attending births as a Labor Coach (now known as a Doula). From 1989 to 1991, she worked with a midwife as a birth assistant attending home births. In 1991, she started her own small home birth practice. In 2008, she worked at Sacred Waters Community Birthing Center in Eugene, Oregon (now closed) for a year and provided postpartum care at Bella Vie in Salem, Oregon, for a couple of years while continuing her home birth practice. In April 2011, she opened her own Licensed Freestanding Birth Center in Lebanon, Oregon, where she has had the privilege to serve over 500 families through the birth center.
Debbie has 8 children, 15 grandchildren, and 1 great-grandchild. In her free time, she likes to spend time with family and friends, knitting (mostly hats for the babies she delivers), making quilts for her grandchildren, cooking, going to community events, and enjoying the outdoors.
Mary Grace Showalter CNM
Born in southern California, Mary grew up on a small farm in the northern Willamette Valley. She achieved her dream of becoming a nurse upon graduating from Walla Walla University School of Nursing in 1998 with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. She began her nursing career at Providence Newberg Hospital, where she worked for 10 years, most of that time as a Labor, Delivery, and Postpartum nurse. There, she assisted with many births.
During nursing school, Mary sensed God calling her to commit her life to medical
mission work. Wanting a broad base of study and experience for future mission work, Mary pursued midwifery studies during her tenure at Providence Newberg Medical Center. She completed midwifery school, through distance education, with Frontier Nursing University, Hyden, Kentucky, graduating in October 2008, with a Master's in Nursing. After graduation, and receiving her certification and licensure to work as a certified nurse midwife, Mary worked at mission clinics in Paraguay, South America, and at a birth center in Haiti as a missionary nurse and midwife. She has attended hundreds of births.
Since returning from overseas, Mary has worked both as a traveling RN for a medical staffing agency in a variety of hospital maternity departments and as a locum tenens midwife in Oregon for Bella Vie Birth Center, Andaluz Waterbirth Center, and Aurora Family Birth Center, and in Texas for Motherly Way Maternity Services. She was a clinical instructor for nursing students at her alma mater, Walla Walla University School of Nursing.
During her work as a nurse and midwife, Mary has worked with both low and high risk women, including a variety of pregnancy complications, dealt with pregnancy emergencies and transports, served as head midwife of a mission clinic and as a director of a birth center that provided both prenatal, labor, birth, and postnatal care, and taught aspiring student midwives, as well as nursing students. Mary loves nursing, especially the miracle of birth and working with mothers, babies, and families.
When not at work, Mary enjoys interacting with family and friends, traveling, gardening, a variety of handwork, reading, singing, and observing God’s wonderful handiwork in creation. Her goal in life and greatest joy is serving God by serving others.
Born in southern California, Mary grew up on a small farm in the northern Willamette Valley. She achieved her dream of becoming a nurse upon graduating from Walla Walla University School of Nursing in 1998 with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. She began her nursing career at Providence Newberg Hospital, where she worked for 10 years, most of that time as a Labor, Delivery, and Postpartum nurse. There, she assisted with many births.
During nursing school, Mary sensed God calling her to commit her life to medical
mission work. Wanting a broad base of study and experience for future mission work, Mary pursued midwifery studies during her tenure at Providence Newberg Medical Center. She completed midwifery school, through distance education, with Frontier Nursing University, Hyden, Kentucky, graduating in October 2008, with a Master's in Nursing. After graduation, and receiving her certification and licensure to work as a certified nurse midwife, Mary worked at mission clinics in Paraguay, South America, and at a birth center in Haiti as a missionary nurse and midwife. She has attended hundreds of births.
Since returning from overseas, Mary has worked both as a traveling RN for a medical staffing agency in a variety of hospital maternity departments and as a locum tenens midwife in Oregon for Bella Vie Birth Center, Andaluz Waterbirth Center, and Aurora Family Birth Center, and in Texas for Motherly Way Maternity Services. She was a clinical instructor for nursing students at her alma mater, Walla Walla University School of Nursing.
During her work as a nurse and midwife, Mary has worked with both low and high risk women, including a variety of pregnancy complications, dealt with pregnancy emergencies and transports, served as head midwife of a mission clinic and as a director of a birth center that provided both prenatal, labor, birth, and postnatal care, and taught aspiring student midwives, as well as nursing students. Mary loves nursing, especially the miracle of birth and working with mothers, babies, and families.
When not at work, Mary enjoys interacting with family and friends, traveling, gardening, a variety of handwork, reading, singing, and observing God’s wonderful handiwork in creation. Her goal in life and greatest joy is serving God by serving others.
Betty Griffith -Aime, LDM
Betty is our back-up midwife. We call her in when we need an extra set of hands.
Betty is a Licensed Direct-Entry Midwife (LDM) and has served families in the city of Salem and surrounding communities since 1980. Her introduction to childbirth started in the 1960's while she was a student nurse at a teaching hospital. She found a lot of the medical intervention that was considered necessary at that time to be very frightening, so determined to spend her career finding a better way for women to give birth.
After graduating from nursing school in 1968, she spent several years teaching childbirth education and assisting a chiropractor doing births in his clinic. In 1974 she became an obstetrics nurse at a small hospital where she was given even more responsibilities and was able to learn how to handle a greater variety of circumstances involved in the birth process, and to improve her skills in labor management.
In 1980, I began assisting a few friends and relatives who chose to give birth at home and soon realized she was ready to fulfill her true calling, that of Home Birth Midwife. Since then, she has attended hundreds of births and finds that each birth teaches her something new. She still finds her career to be stimulating, uplifting, and fulfilling. She is now enjoying delivering many second generation babies in the Salem area and beyond. www.birthwithlovemidwifeservices.com/
Betty is our back-up midwife. We call her in when we need an extra set of hands.
Betty is a Licensed Direct-Entry Midwife (LDM) and has served families in the city of Salem and surrounding communities since 1980. Her introduction to childbirth started in the 1960's while she was a student nurse at a teaching hospital. She found a lot of the medical intervention that was considered necessary at that time to be very frightening, so determined to spend her career finding a better way for women to give birth.
After graduating from nursing school in 1968, she spent several years teaching childbirth education and assisting a chiropractor doing births in his clinic. In 1974 she became an obstetrics nurse at a small hospital where she was given even more responsibilities and was able to learn how to handle a greater variety of circumstances involved in the birth process, and to improve her skills in labor management.
In 1980, I began assisting a few friends and relatives who chose to give birth at home and soon realized she was ready to fulfill her true calling, that of Home Birth Midwife. Since then, she has attended hundreds of births and finds that each birth teaches her something new. She still finds her career to be stimulating, uplifting, and fulfilling. She is now enjoying delivering many second generation babies in the Salem area and beyond. www.birthwithlovemidwifeservices.com/
Ondra Watson, CPM, LDM
Ondra has been a Licensed Direct Entry Midwife since 2009. She was trained in Craniosacral Therapy (CST) in 2011, then added Holistic Pelvic Care™ (HPC is a specific type of internal pelvic bodywork pioneered by Tami Kent, MSPT, of Portland, OR). She has now added Massage Therapy.
Ondra regularly holds CST and HPC clinics at the Growing Family Birth Center. You can contact her by leaving a message at (503) 709-8911.
Ondra has been a Licensed Direct Entry Midwife since 2009. She was trained in Craniosacral Therapy (CST) in 2011, then added Holistic Pelvic Care™ (HPC is a specific type of internal pelvic bodywork pioneered by Tami Kent, MSPT, of Portland, OR). She has now added Massage Therapy.
Ondra regularly holds CST and HPC clinics at the Growing Family Birth Center. You can contact her by leaving a message at (503) 709-8911.
Growing Family Birth Center, 701 N 5th Street, Bldg B1010, Lebanon, OR 97355
Phone (541)259-2500 Fax (541)203-9449
© Growing Family Birth Center, LLC 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
Phone (541)259-2500 Fax (541)203-9449
© Growing Family Birth Center, LLC 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025