Our Team
Mischa Orbons
CPM, LDM
Founder and Primary Midwife of Artemis Midwifery llc
Mischa’s midwifery journey started in a small village in the Alpujarra mountains of Southern Spain. There, she attended her first few births and learned from international home birth midwives who were passionate about sharing their knowledge & skills.
She meanwhile applied and was accepted into a midwifery college in the Netherlands, her country of birth, and started her midwifery education there. In Dutch culture midwifery is the standard of care for all healthy, low-risk pregnant women.
Coming from this background, Mischa too believes every woman should have access to midwifery care and the opportunity to have an empowered, supported birth experience in the place where she feels most comfortable, supported, and at ease. Mischa feels honored to be present for such an intimate, powerful and vulnerable part of women’s lives, and to witness women’s innate strength.
While on a summer vacation to Southern Oregon, Mischa was offered a midwifery apprenticeship there. She moved to the U.S. and completed her midwifery training, learning skills both in home birth and birth center settings. She is a Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) and Licensed Midwife (LDM) in the state of Oregon.
Mischa is the founder and primary midwife of Artemis Midwifery llc. In her free time, she likes to explore Southern Oregon and beyond on horseback with her fiancé Ken and their dog Nanook, and take time off to travel overseas or to go on backpacking adventures with friends. She loves creeks, rivers, waterfalls, high mountain lakes and hot springs, and loves planning trips to locations that involve water of any kind.
At Artemis Midwifery we work as a two-, or sometimes three-midwife team. This is to ensure both mom & baby’s safety and well being in the event that both are needing urgent attention and care at the same time.
All midwives on our team are trained and keep up to date with Neonatal Resuscitation, CPR, and birth emergency skills such as resolving post-partum hemorrhage & shoulder dystocia. We get together once a month to practice skills & drills so that we keep up to date with these as a team.
Mischa will be attending your birth with one of the following lovely & skilled midwives:
Photo credit: Sarah Everitt Photography
From left to right: Mischa, Kristy, and Jae
Mischa, left, and Jae, right, at an Artemis Midwifery Picnic, October 2023
Jae Rowan
CPM, LDM
Assistant / back-up midwife
THW doula
Jae’s first apprenticeship began in 1987 and continued until 1989 under the supervision of an independent midwife with a homebirth practice in California. In 1989 she became pregnant with her third child, moved to Oregon and took a five-year break to raise her family. She continued her apprenticeship in Oregon in 1994, completing her National Certification as a Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) in 2005. She then became Licensed in the state of Oregon in 2006 (LDM).
From 2010-2018 she was a co-founding member of Three Sisters Midwifery in Jacksonville, OR. Since then, she has had a very small midwifery practice of her own and has also supported the midwifery community as an assistant midwife.
For Jae, one of the greatest joys in her life is to serve her community as a midwife. She gave birth to her four children at home and enjoys spending time with her adult children and grandchildren. She was also honored to be at the births of her two grandchildren (with another one on the way!).
In her free time, Jae enjoys free flight as a paraglider and traveling to fly in other places in the world. She also enjoys spending time in the wilderness, hiking with her dogs, listening to music and singing, studying languages, yoga, cooking and dancing.
In our practice, Jae often attends births in the role of assistant midwife, or sometimes as a THW doula, providing emotional support and comfort measures during labor. As a THW doula, she will also do an additional prenatal visit to discuss your birth preferences, and will follow up with you for postpartum doula support as well.
Kristy Newell
CPM, LDM
Assistant / back-up midwife
THW doula
Kristy attended her first birth as a domestic violence advocate while living and working in rural Alaska. She was shocked by the lack of consent in the medical model yet deeply inspired by the felt potential for transformation in birth. Her calling to become a midwife (and grow her own food), inspired an eventual move to Southern Oregon where in 2013 she apprenticed with Three Sisters Midwifery in Jacksonville. Kristy is deeply grateful to have learned the art of midwifery through the wise-woman tradition of apprenticeship in a collaborative practice model. She feels it is a deep honor to hold a sacred container for women and babies to birth safely, in their own homes and connected to their own power and knowing.
Not long after completing her apprenticeship and receiving her CPM in 2016, Kristy became pregnant with her son who was born at home with the support of midwives. When not attending births, she spends her time growing flowers, produce and basketry willow on the homestead she shares with her husband, son and her sister's family in Applegate.
For Artemis midwifery clients, Kristy serves primarily as an Assistant Midwife and THW doula. Though she also has her own midwifery practice serving women in the greater Applegate region where she lives, she enjoys the collaboration and behind—the-scenes support of attending births together with Mischa and Jae in varying capacities.
Micaela Gauss
CPM, LDM
Assistant/ back-up midwife
Micaela has been a licensed home birth midwife since 2012. She is a Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) through the North American Registry of Midwives and Licensed Direct-Entry Midwife (LDM) in the state of Oregon. She lives in Williams, Oregon with her husband and children. Micaela marvels in the beauty of nature and natural birth. She trusts birth and works to support its natural hormones and physiology. Micaela loves helping local mamas and babies in the greater Applegate region.
Micaela studied at Birthingway College of Midwifery in Oregon. This comprehensive midwifery training included lecture, skills, research, and self study. At the same time she apprenticed with several different home birth midwifery practices.
In December 2009 she birthed her first son at home in the water. Giving birth anchored her knowledge firmly in bodily experience. Nearly ten years after her first child was born, she gave birth to her second son, again at home in the water.
“ My son Atreya and my step daughter Hannah watched in awe as my husband Peter caught baby John. Birth is so magical! John is a delightful addition to our family.”
Micaela has her own midwifery practice based out of Williams, Oregon, but she occasionally assists at births for Artemis Midwifery clients.
