Michelle Santos Hansen
BA, MSN, CNM, APRN
Prior to becoming a midwife and labor & delivery nurse for 7 years, Michelle spent 12 years in birth work as a doula, supporting and advocating for childbearing families. She spent time in Portugal and was involved in birth work. She was integral to introducing the community to birth alternatives, which included education on the benefits of doula support in labor, waterbirth, and physiologic birth- which in Portuguese and Spanish is "dar a luz"- meaning to give light.
She is the mother of 5 children and has benefited from midwife attended births in the hospital and homebirth settings.
She practiced as a Certified Nurse Midwife for 4 years at Glens Falls Hospital caring for a variety of patients desiring midwifery care. She loves providing continuity of care to clients in the operating room and is certified to First Assist in Cesarean Sections and has co-managed high risk patients in the hospital setting.
Michelle has been studying Women's Integrative and Functional Medicine and is excited to be able to provide integrative and complimentary approaches in practice that get to the root of chronic women's health problems.
Lindsay Lachant
DNP, CNM, APRN, IBCLC, PMH-C
Lindsay worked for 9 years as a labor & delivery nurse and during that time had expanded her role to include childbirth educator and lactation consultant. Becoming a midwife solidified her belief about the type of care she wanted to provide. Developing a trusting relationship with clients, continuity of care, and empowerment are some of the hallmarks of midwifery that are important care aspects often missing from the healthcare experience. During clinical midwifery training, Lindsay was able to attend homebirths in North Carolina and learned the ins and outs of
midwifery-led hospital care at Burdett Birth Center in Troy, NY.
While working for 6 years in Connecticut, at the only Freestanding Birth Center in the state, it was this unique model of care that sparked her desire to want to do better for families. The evidence-based care that is central to the midwifery model needs to be scaled up nationally. In 2018, she received her Doctorate in Nursing Practice (DNP), which specialized in healthcare quality improvement. Her doctoral work focused on improving breastfeeding exclusivity and implementing practices to help patients meet their individual goals.
Since moving back home to Vermont in 2019, she has worked in a variety hospital-based midwifery positions in New York and Massachusetts. Expanding access to perinatal mental healthcare is another area of interest for Lindsay. She recently completed the Perinatal Mental Health Certification from Postpartum Support International and would like to incorporate mental health and wellness into her practice. She is excited to step back into her passion of community-based midwifery care and serve folks in her home state of Vermont.
Lindsay has 4 children and has experienced birth center, home and hospital births with midwives. She is passionate about choices in childbirth and that all options for birth settings should be available. She has been working on legislative efforts to pave the way for birth centers to open in Vermont.
How we got here
In 2011, we met through a mutual acquaintance who thought that we needed to connect. We worked parallel nursing careers in labor & delivery, one in Rutland and the other in Bennington. Lindsay graduated from midwifery school and started to practice in Michelle's hometown of Danbury, CT. Michelle attended midwifery school 5 years later and did her clinical training with Lindsay and the midwives at the Birth Center in Danbury.
It was very special to be at commencement together. Michelle with her Master of Science in Nursing and Lindsay with her Doctorate in Nursing Practice. We reunited again when Lindsay moved back home to Vermont. After a few discussions and a couple of years commuting and working out of state, we made the commitment to serve our own community and Sage Willow Midwifery & Wellness PLC was born.