Licensed Midwives
Midwives are dedicated to providing you with the personalized healthcare experience you deserve. We follow the midwifery model of care to provide primary and maternity care services to help women of all ages maintain health. We emphasize health promotion and education, disease prevention, and informed decision-making. Midwives build partnerships with women and their families by listening and providing information, guidance, and counseling in a shared decision-making process. We partner with other members of our healthcare team through collaboration and referral to provide optimal care. The midwives at OB-GYN & Midwifery Associates all have NYS midwifery licenses and are nationally certified by the American Midwifery Certification Board (AMCB).
The Midwives Model of Care includes:
The Midwives Model of Care is based on the fact that pregnancy and birth are normal life processes.
- Monitoring the physical, psychological, and social well-being of the mother throughout the childbearing cycle
- Providing the mother with individualized education, counseling, and prenatal care, continuous hands-on assistance during labor and delivery, and postpartum support
- Minimizing technological interventions
- Identifying and referring women who require obstetrical attention
The application of this woman-centered model of care has been proven to reduce the incidence of birth injury, trauma, and cesarean section.
(May 1996, Midwifery Task Force).
Meet the Midwives
Erianna Flores, CNM
Erianna joined OB-GYN & Midwifery Associates in 2017 after earning her Masters in Nurse Midwifery from Frontier Nursing University, based in Hyden, Kentucky. Prior to that, she also received a Bachelors from Sarah Lawrence College and completed her nursing degree at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn. She moved to Ithaca in 2010 with her family and enjoys spending time with family and friends relishing the beauty and bounty the region has to offer. She has cared for women and families for many years as an educator and nurse. As a midwife, she is dedicated to providing respectful, individualized care for childbearing and other health needs across the lifespan.
Laura MacCarald MS, CNM
Laura joined OB-GYN and Midwifery Associates in 2018, after completing her Masters of Science in Nurse-Midwifery at Frontier Nursing University, the country’s oldest school of Nurse-Midwifery. Prior to fulfilling her life-long dream of becoming a midwife, Laura worked for years as a nurse, primarily in maternity care. She is passionate about providing respectful reproductive health care across the lifespan, and empowering people from all walks of life to be active and informed participants in their care. When not at work, Laura enjoys spending time in nature, and hanging out with her daughter.
Mahrie Moore, MS, CNM
Mahrie joined OB-GYN & Midwifery Associates in 2009 after completing her Masters of Science in Nurse Midwifery at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, Oregon. Prior to that, she received her undergraduate degree in psychology from Carleton College and her nursing degree at the University of Pennsylvania. Mahrie is enthusiastic about caring for women and their families during the childbearing years as well as providing well woman and gynecologic care across the life span. She has a particular interest in health education and working with families to help make informed decisions about their care.
Lisa Grove, CNM
Lisa started her midwifery career in 2015 and recently joined OB-GYN & Midwifery Associates in 2023. Prior to her work in midwifery, she had a long career as a labor and delivery nurse, which started in 2001, after gaining her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Montana State University in 1996. Lisa moved on to realize her dream of becoming a certified nurse midwife, graduating from Frontier Nursing University with a Master of Science in Nurse Midwifery in 2015. She has worked in a variety of settings for women’s health, from small community clinics to high risk, high volume university hospitals. Her passion is to help people in trusting their bodies and the birth process — discovering how strong and amazing they are when it comes to birthing! Lisa lives outside of Horseheads, NY with her husband and dog Bear. They enjoy gardening and other efforts at being self sustaining. Lisa loves to cook and bake. She has four children who are living out their own dreams, and she loves being Nonna to her grandchildren.
Dana Laise, RN, CNM
I grew up in a small town near Albany, NY and was active in a variety of activities, including band, sports and 4-H. I have spent time abroad & lived in a variety of places; a year in Denmark as a Rotary Exchange student after high school; Bard College in the Hudson Valley, two years in New York City prior to two years in Benin, West Africa as a Peace Corps Volunteer; five years in Washington DC after returning from the Peace Corps and prior to three years in Portland, OR for nursing /graduate school. Making my way back east after midwifery school, my first job as a CNM was two years at a birth center in Lancaster, PA, which provides care primarily to the Amish community. I then spent a number of years in the Lower Hudson Valley working in a local community hospital before coming to Ithaca in August 2022. I came to midwifery slowly, over many years, but I have always had a desire to work with women & girls in a real & empowering way. I am grateful for the dual opportunity that midwifery provides of being with women as they navigate their journey through pregnancy and all the changes that brings, as well as being in the unique position of supporting them through the very physical & emotional demands of labor and delivery. After 11 years, I still love being a part of the awe inspiring powerful work of bringing a child into this world. It is always a miracle. In my free time I stay busy cycling, thrifting, walking, reading, and crafting of various things. I recently took my first cruise – to Alaska! I am hoping to travel more in the future, and am looking for a little patch of earth to care for and call my own.
