Midwives at the Connecticut Childbirth Center

Meet Our Midwives

Cathy Parisi, MSN, CNM became interested in midwifery after the midwife-assisted homebirth of her first child. At the time there were no alternatives for low risk women to birth anywhere but in a hospital setting or in their homes. She was struck by the time, care and attention she received. She found that she strongly wanted to help other women have as wonderful an experience as she and her family had experienced. By the time of her third child nearly five years later, she had changed her college major from psychology to nursing and completed her training as a registered nurse at Western Connecticut State University. She had also become certified as a Bradley childbirth educator.

Cathy gained experience caring for both high and low risk pregnant women while she worked as a labor and delivery nurse for 8 years. When her children reached school age she began pursuing her goal of becoming a Certified Nurse Midwife.

Over the next two years, she worked to obtain her midwifery certificate from the Frontier School of Midwifery and Family Nursing and her Masters of Science in Nursing from the State University of New York at Stonybrook. After graduation in 1995 she joined a large midwifery practice based at Yale-New Haven Hospital. Although the group was hospital based, the position and volume of clients provided a wealth of experience in the care of birthing mothers, both high and low risk. In 1997 she returned permanently to the Danbury area to help open the Connecticut Childbirth & Women’s Center with Drs. Kenneth Blau and Patricia Whitcombe.

Cathy is delighted to be back working in Danbury. Her heart has always been focused on providing individualized and family-centered care for women and their families. The Connecticut Childbirth & Women's Center allows her to practice true midwifery care in a setting that is designed to be like birth at home. Care that is safe and personal. Cathy is a lifelong Connecticut resident, born in Danbury. She resides in Bethel with her husband Pete. They are the parents of three grown children; Peter, Betsy, and Stacy.

Cathy is the midwife Director of the center and is proud to be in charge of the overall quality of midwifery care provided by herself and the birth center staff.

Catherine Gallagher, CNM: Experiencing her own Vaginal Birth After Cesarean (VBAC) with a midwife in attendance changed the course of Cathy’s life and career! It’s that change that led her to Childbirth Education and consumer advocacy, becoming a doula, labor & delivery Nurse, and culminating in her career as midwife. She is fulfilled in her work, especially the kind she is able to practice at the CCWC. She believes that birth is a pivotal life experience, and takes pride in bringing together the emotional, social, and spiritual aspects of healthcare - so often lacking in today’s medical world.

She attended Nursing School at SUNY/Westchester. After graduating in 1995, she worked in labor & delivery at an area hospital that also operated a freestanding Birth Center on its campus, the place she had formerly worked as a doula. From there, she attended midwifery school at University of Medicine and Dentistry in New Jersey, graduated in 1998, and was hired by the Hudson River Community Health Center. She continued to work at the Birth Center & hospital - now in the capacity of Certified Nurse Midwife. The hospital eventually closed its freestanding Birth Center, a great disappointment to Cathy.

By chance, she came across the opportunity to join CCWC, and the opportunity to get back to the Birth Center environment. So, she came to Danbury. But, whether patients choose the hospital or the Birth Center, Cathy’s commitment to caring for women and their families within a midwifery philosophy is unwavering. She also enjoys working within a full scope practice that offers prenatal care as well as Gynecology, and family planning.

Cathy, an active gardener & beekeeper, lives in Somers, NY, with her Husband Tim, an English teacher. Her three daughters are young adults in college and beyond, spreading their wings out in the world.

Kathryn "Katie" Spiess, MSN, CNM is a local Connecticut girl. She grew up in central Connecticut and has lived much of her life here. After earning a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Oberlin College in 2002, she learned about the wonderful work midwives do for women worldwide and fell in love with the call of midwifery.

She attended an accelerated nursing program at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, and graduated in June 2005, with her MSN. Katie went to work as a registered nurse on the labor/delivery/post-partum unit at St. Mary’s Hospital in Waterbury for six years. She gained invaluable experience caring for women and their families during and after labor. This experience solidified her commitment to pursue her midwifery degree so that she could continue to enrich and touch the lives of more women.

She completed midwifery training at the Yale University School of Nursing in May 2011. During her midwifery schooling Katie was a student here at the Connecticut Childbirth & Women’s Center where many of you came to know and love her calm, reassuring manner and professional abilities during labor support. Katie is committed to providing full-scope midwifery care to women and is thrilled to be putting all her years of education to use in the service of women. In her free time Katie enjoys reading, hiking, and running.

Meet Our Midwives

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