About the Author

Martha E Merrill-Hall JD MS CNM

I am an experienced certified nurse-midwife and attorney, having actively engaged in both careers; midwifery for over three decades and law practice for nearly that long. My midwifery professional work has included private and hospital-practice midwifery, CNM hospitalist care, midwifery for the Indian Health Service, and critical access hospital midwifery in northern Montana.  

As an attorney, I have engaged in civil practice in the area of personal injury and professional malpractice.  I have represented both plaintiffs and defendants.  Pro bono work has included limited representation of advanced practice providers who have experienced actions against their professional licenses by their respective State licensing boards. While I retain a license to practice in the State of Colorado, I have retired from the practice of law.  Most recently, I have practiced as a Certified Nurse-Midwife with a national obstetrical hospitalist group. I have held Nursing and Certified Nurse-Midwifery licenses to practice in Colorado, Montana, Nebraska, Iowa, New Mexico, and California. I have held nursing licenses to practice Critical Care Nursing in the States of Vermont and Maine.

In addition to CNM and attorney practice, I have been retained as a midwifery expert witness in a few unfortunate instances where there have been claims of midwifery professional negligence.  I maintain an interest in midwifery malpractice litigation, researching trial verdicts and attending legal seminars where midwifery is targeted in relation to birth injury/death and alleged negligent practice.

With a Nurse-Midwifery career that began in the mid 1980’s, I am proud to have followed in the footsteps of brave and enterprising Certified Nurse-Midwives who forged the way for all CNMs and Certified Midwives (CMs) to legally and legitimately practice in hospitals, clinics, birth centers, and homes.  Early nurse-midwives fought for recognition and supportive legislation, becoming professional leaders, lobbyists, university professors, and practitioners. These determined individuals are the heroes of Certified Nurse-Midwifery and Certified Midwifery. 

Clinical recognition of midwifery practice was, essentially, non-existent in the 1970’s and advancements were slow to materialize due, in large part, to the attitudes of legislators, uninformed medical providers, hospital administrations, and persistent knowledge deficits regarding midwifery within society as a whole. Unfortunately, professional profiles of CNMs and CMs still fail to adequately reflect the realities of clinical midwifery practice and the scientific contributions being made by today’s CNMs and CMs.

I graduated with a Juris Doctor in Law from the University of Denver and earned a Master of Science in Maternal/Child Health and Certified Nurse-Midwifery from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center (currently UC Health – Anschutz medical campus).

I live in the beautiful Rocky Mountains of Colorado.