Conversations with the Inspiring Aubre Tompkins

Today we’d like to introduce you to Aubre Tompkins.

Aubre, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I have been on the path of assisting in the creation of families for 15 years. First, as an RN in a local hospital working in Labor & Delivery, Postpartum/Newborn, High-Risk Antepartum Care and occasionally in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. This work deepened my desire to become a Midwife serving my community and I have been honored to do that work since 2010. I started my midwifery career at a free-standing birth center in Englewood, CO where I eventually became the Clinical Director helping to lead the center to exponential growth. Additionally, while in this position, I spearheaded the program to be the first facility in the state of CO to offer Nitrous Oxide to folks in labor, led an initiative that helped to increase the long term breastfeeding rates of our families and our practice was repeatedly recognized as a national leader in maternal and neonatal outcomes.

Recently, I have partnered with The Women’s Health Group to develop, design and build a new free-standing birth center in Thornton, Seasons Midwifery & Birth Center. We are a midwife-led birth center, committed to bringing the birth center model of care to our community. Colorado is blessed with a vibrant birth center culture and we are proud to be counted in the mix. One major thing that separates us from the other centers, on the front range, is that our midwives have privileges at our local partner hospital, North Suburban Medical Center. This is groundbreaking for our families as it means that in the event of a transfer in labor or postpartum, our midwives maintain care and our families do not lose their preferred care provider. This helps to ensure excellent outcomes through continuity of care and decreases potential trauma for the family.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
When is life ever smooth sailing for the entire journey? In my experience, we have phases of joy, ease, and comfort mixed with difficulties and hardships. This is part of the process, for how could we truly appreciate the beauty if we had nothing to compare it to?

Keep this in mind when you are working towards your goals. Setbacks and challenges are lessons to be learned. Falling down is normal and to be expected. Take the time to assess the damage, analyze the why, heal the wounds and then pick yourself back up. You will be stronger. The community needs you, your experience and your vision.

Be sure to build each other up, we all need support and assistance at certain points and you need healthy, strong folks around you. This is influenced by how well you support the community around you and who you choose to spend time and energy on.

Please tell us more about what you do, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
I did not create birth centers or the birth center model of care, this was done by pioneering women and midwives before me. I acknowledge the work they did and strive to use my time advancing the model for the next generation. It is like running a relay race, I am doing my part to carry the baton and set up the best scenario when I pass it off.

That being said, I am an expert in the birth center model of care: how it best serves our families, how to best support the midwives and other staff, how to partner with excellent team members across the spectrum to ensure the best outcomes. I am most proud of my ability to foster resilient, strong, independent team members to grow and pick up those batons to carry forward.

What do you feel are the biggest barriers today to female leadership, in your industry or generally?
Nursing and Midwifery as professions have long been dominated by Women, our strength, intelligence, resilience, and dedication to serving our communities has created a strong foundation and tradition of caring. Unfortunately, this has also led to our work being undervalued by the dominant patriarchal culture. Our biggest work going forward needs to be in demanding equal pay, reimbursement, and recognition from the current medical system.

Midwives and Midwifery have been proven time and time again to improve outcomes for families and yet is not compensated competitively in our system which leads to less accessibility for those very families. It is time for the dominant paradigm to shift and support the folks doing the best work with the best outcomes.

Contact Info:

• Address: 2900 E. 136th Ave.
  Thornton, CO 80241
• Website: https://seasonsbirthcenter.com/
• Phone: 303-999-3950
• Email: info@seasonsbirthcenter.com
• Instagram: seasons_birth_center
• Facebook: @seasonsbirthcenter

Image Credit:
Monet Nicole and Lindsey Eden

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