Nicolette ‘Niki’ Vallandigham, CNM

Nicolette “Niki” Vallandigham has been a certified nurse-midwife at Special Beginnings Birth and Women’s Center since 2009. She was drawn to nurse-midwifery because of her experiences as a two-time Birth Center parent at a freestanding Birth Center in New Hampshire.

“The care I received was exemplary. Our midwife, Chris, always included us in each decision-making process. I felt really in control of my life during the biggest transition we experience – parenthood! I wanted to share that sense of empowerment with other women and families.”

Becoming a Nurse-Midwife

First, Niki pursued nursing training with vigor and graduated with honors as an RN, intent on working with mothers and families in labor and delivery. She worked in local hospitals for 3 years on medical/surgical, pediatric and women’s health floors, gaining broad nursing experiences.

In 1994, she reached her goal and began working as a labor and delivery nurse at a small hospital’s birth center in New London, providing support to mothers and families.

Over the next few years she worked hard to make her dream of entering midwifery school a reality, working full-time as a nurse and raising a family while completing her Bachelor’s degree.  She then went on to complete her certification of nurse-midwifery and earned a masters degree in nursing.

A Midwifery Pioneer in a Small Town

After she completed graduate school, Niki played an important role in bringing the practice of midwifery to rural New York. The first and only nurse-midwife in town, she dedicated her time to teaching clients, staff, providers and administrators what midwifery care is all about, demonstrating how nurse-midwives could provide an unprecedented level of support to the women of the community.

She was warmly welcomed and earned a reputation with her moms as being “high touch, low tech.” Niki created and administered a new hospital-based midwifery practice, mentoring additional midwives to provide care to women from teens through menopause.

Niki Joins Special Beginnings

After years of hospital based practice, Niki joined Special Beginning’s staff in 2009 with a deep sense of coming home to the place where she was always meant to be. Niki is thrilled to come home to her Birth Center roots and says,

“My journey into midwifery began at a freestanding Birth Center. We chose how and prepared as a family for the births we wanted. The freestanding Birth Center model gives women and families both real choices and positive outcomes. What could be more empowering?”

Credentials

• Associates Degree in Nursing (ADN), New Hampshire Technical Institute, Concord, New Hampshire, 1991
• Bachelor of Science (BS), Humanities, Regents College (Excelsior), Albany, NY, 1995
• Certificate in Nurse-midwifery, Frontier School of Midwifery and Family Nursing, Hyden, KY, 2001
• Certified Nurse-Midwife (CNM), American Midwifery Certification Board, 2001
• Master of Science in Nursing (MSN), Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, 2004