News & Events

Women’s Healthcare Associates, LLC (WHA) will cease operations at the Midwifery Birth Center on October 28th, 2022 as part of a larger plan to consolidate its metro area services as a result of declining regional birth rates and the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare staffing and expenses. WHA will also withdraw from…

Maternal Mental Health Month is an opportunity to discuss and share the importance of mental health wellness during the perinatal period. We continue to learn about the prevalence of mental health conditions impacting pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum, with the most common being depression, anxiety and substance use disorders. According to the CDC, 1 in 8…

Women’s Healthcare Associates stands with the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. We stand with the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, the American College of Nurse-Midwives, the American Academy of Pediatrics and so many others. Abortion care is health care and the ability to make autonomous health care decisions is a basic human right. We stand…

Today marks the start of the fifth annual Black Maternal Health Week (#BMHW22) and the second consecutive year it has been recognized through an official White House proclamation. It is also the International Day for Maternal Health and Rights. Black birthing parents in the U.S. are over three times more likely to die in pregnancy,…

Like so many organizations, WHA has been looking internally and asking important and long overdue questions in the wake of the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor last spring and the national protests against police brutality and racial injustice that followed. Our work has included: Examining all aspects of our organization through…

Justice. Dignity. Respect. Ideals many of us are able to take for granted. As we witness and share in the heartbreak and frustration here at home and throughout the country, we condemn the violent acts and daily injustices suffered by African Americans and other people of color in our community. As healthcare providers, we cannot…

WHA’s Gresham Station office will close permanently at the end of the day Thursday, June 20th. Drs. Alyxandra O’Brien and Claire Steen will both continue to see patients at WHA’s nearby Gateway office, and Dr. Steen will begin also seeing patients at our Happy Valley office later this year. Both nearby WHA offices offer more…

In late 2018, WHA had the pleasure of welcoming Catherine Schaefer, CNM, ND, Carissa St. Onge Carneiro, CNM and Rachel Kofron, RN to our Midwifery Birth Center. All three joined the team from A Gentle Beginning, a Portland home-birth midwifery practice Catherine owned and operated since 1994. “I have known for a long time that…

Our own Dr. Greg Eilers discussed how partners can support pregnancy in this month’s issue of Portland Family Magazine. Dr. Eilers cared for hundreds of women as an OB/GYN and often helps both partners navigate the pregnancy. As a father himself, he knows the importance of being supportive, and he offers advice on how partners…