About Us

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After spending her early career in maternal child health nursing and raising a family, Melanie received a Master of Science in Nursing with a concentration in Midwifery from University of New Mexico in 2008. She has practiced as a Certified Nurse-Midwife in Albuquerque, New Mexico for the last 13 years  caring for pregnant people, birth, postpartum, newborns thru the first month and women's health. She is one of the founding midwives of the Dar a Luz Birth & Health Center and served  as Clinical Director and midwife for 10 years. In 2021, she shifted gears to follow her dream of extending the same empowering care. With 13 years of experience supporting breastfeeding and after 90 hours of additional lactation education, in 2021 she became an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC).  She completed her Pediatric Nurse Practitioner training  at UNM in spring of 2022 and is excited to use these skills to support moms and babies on their feeding journey.  She has performed tongue-tie releases with scissors for the past 10 years and took extensive training in tongue-tie evaluation and laser releases over the past 2 years. She is very passionate about helping babies thrive, including feeding support, tongue-tie evaluation and laser releases. Helping families grow and succeed are some of the most rewarding parts of her work.

Melanie grew up on the farm and ranch in the Texas Panhandle where she developed a connection with the land and plants. She has had a landscaping business since 1998 and enjoys creating sustainable and pollinator friendly landscape designs as well as tending her own garden. Orchids are among her favorite plants. She is also a beekeeper and sells local honey.  Her other creative side-lines including jewelry design and metal sculptures. Melanie enjoys her cat, hikes and flying kites in her spare time!