October 6-12, 2024

National Midwifery Week (#MidwiferyWeek2024) was created by the American College Nurse Midwives to celebrate and recognize midwives and midwife-led care. This year’s theme is “Midwives Looking to the Future.” Rigorous scientific evidence demonstrates that care provided by midwives improves birth outcomes and patient experiences. The evidence also supports the importance of the integration and expansion of midwifery to the improvement of health outcomes across states and nations. The profession of midwifery is rooted in the past but essential to the future.

Dar a Luz is proud to have 8 incredible midwives on our team who have joyously attended over 1600 births and have supported over 4000 New Mexican families.

Show your appreciation for our midwives this
2024 National Midwifery Week by donating to DAL!

Can you help us to get to $10,000 before the end of #MidwiferyWeek2024?

(Leave a shoutout to any or all of our midwives in the donation message!)

DAL October Updates

Welcome our new midwife, Staci!

Meet Staci Smart, CNM, RN, IBCLC

Coming to work at Dar a Luz is a beautiful homecoming. What a privilege to work at a facility that honors birth and families in my hometown!

Birth has captured my heart since my senior year of high school when my dear friend invited me to her homebirth. The rhythm, intensity, and love present at that birth left me in awe, and inspired to support pregnant people in this sacred work. My dedication to this work deepened when I was blessed to have my own babies at home. I was also supported by wonderful midwives who saw me in my full humanness throughout my pregnancies as I learned and grew and struggled and thrived. Everyday I try to pay forward the kindness and care I received with each family I am able to support.

I got my roots in birthwork as a compassionate Doula at Presbyterian before working in the Albuquerque home birth community as a midwifery apprentice. I went on to be a busy labor and delivery nurse at UNMH and did nurse home-visiting for new and expectant families with the Nurse Family Partnership. Next I worked as an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant before circling back to midwifery as a Certified Nurse Midwife.

My work as a Certified Nurse Midwife began with a year at Rust before I moved to Savannah, Georgia to pursue my passion for out-of-hospital birth at a birthing center. After 2 years away, missing family and New Mexican food, and I am so happy to return to my community as a Dar a Luz Midwife!

Welcome our new nurse, Kayla!

Meet Kayla Kimball, BSN, RN, CPN, Birth Assistant

I was born and raised in Albuquerque, alongside my four, older siblings. After graduating from high school, I attended nursing school at Regis University in Denver. I knew, upon arriving that I was called to care work and to serving my community through compassionate medical care. With my BSN, I headed back home to take a dream job as a Pediatric ICU nurse. Since starting out as a nurse in 2011, I have worked with patients and families in the pediatric ICU, neonatal ICU, and pediatric oncology and have obtained my national pediatric nursing certification.

When I became pregnant myself, I was inspired by my own mother’s unmediated births and felt a strong pull towards physiologic birth. I was referred to DAL by a close friend whose birth and care sounded magical. As soon as I stepped foot in this beautiful space, I knew I wanted to birth at Dar a Luz. Surrounded by so much love, care and patience, I met both of my babies here.

After these empowering, intense, and beautiful experiences, I felt called to birth work. I transitioned out of pediatrics and took the leap into Labor and Delivery. I have been honored to witness and support others as they grow their families and navigate tender life transitions. It is a full-circle experience to now be serving Dar a Luz families and be able to give the care to others that I received. I am grateful that my husband and family deeply understand and value this work and make it possible for me to be part of the DAL family.

Outside of work, you can find me at the park with my kids, reading, working out, and spending quality time with friends.

2024 DAL-A-PALOOZA

A HUGE thank you to everyone who came out and supported our 2024 family day event, DAL-A-PALOOZA. After 5 long years, we were so excited to open up our center again to our incredible DAL families and community members. We loved getting to connect with you all, see how your families have grown, and come together to celebrate 1600 babies at DAL! We hope everyone had a great time and we are already looking forward to next year’s event.

Thank you to our sponsors:

Little Land Soft Play
Harmonic Kids NM
Common Spirit NM
Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains

Couldn’t make it to the event but still interested in donating
to celebrate 1600 babies at DAL?

PNM’s Support Powers Up Dar a Luz

Thanks to PNM’s Reduce Your Use/Reducing Carbon Emissions grant program, DAL will be able to purchase new laptops for our staff to use!

PNM and the PNM Resources Foundation assist communities in New Mexico each year, contributing more than $3 million to nonprofit community organizations to sustain work within communities they serve.

Our incredible IT person, Kona, identified that the laptops used by our midwives and nurses will soon be unable to support the electronic medical records integral to our daily operations, including client consultations and births, and require replacement before 2025. We requested funds to replace these laptops to ensure the continuity and safety of healthcare services.

We also want to give a huge thank you to Amy Berman from Mandy’s Farm for connecting us with PNM and providing so much support to DAL and our development team.

October Classes

Pelvic Floor: Changes During Pregnancy and Postpartum Recovery

When: Wednesday, October 16th at 6 pm
Where: Dar a Luz Birth Center
Price: $20/person

Infant, Child, and Adult CPR Certificate Course

When: Wednesday October 23rd at 5:30 pm
Where: Dar a Luz Birth Center
Price: $50/person