Midwives at TMH
Tallahassee Memorial is home to a Midwifery program of Certified Nurse Midwives (CNM). CNMs can serve as your healthcare provider in both high-risk and low-risk pregnancies. Our midwives view childbirth as a natural process the body is biologically designed to handle.
To seek midwifery care at Tallahassee Memorial, call 850-431-5430.
About Certified Nurse Midwives
Our CNMs support women throughout their pregnancies in their ability to trust their bodies while providing evidence-based care, education and support throughout the process. Their goal is to create a supportive, low-intervention (medicated or unmedicated) birth experience that respects the normal course of labor while ensuring the health and safety of both mother and baby.
Our CNMs are advanced practice registered nurses who have comprehensive training to provide care to pregnant women throughout their pregnancy, labor and delivery and postpartum care. In addition to becoming a registered nurse, a CNM must complete an accredited nurse-midwifery program, become board-certified and apply for state licensure.
Our Services
Our midwives provide the following services:
- Prenatal care for high-risk and low-risk pregnancies, including an initial obstetric ultrasound
- Vaginal births after cesarean section (VBACS), when appropriate
- Emotional and physical assistance during labor
- Management of medicated or unmedicated childbirth
- Referrals for specialty care (Maternal Fetal Medicine, etc.)
- Coordination of mental health services, Women, Infants & Children (WIC), Florida Healthy Start and more
- Postpartum care up to 12 weeks
- Family planning
- Arranging primary care with family medicine providers
- Collaboration with the Family Medicine Residency Program OB physician team (Obstetricians, Obstetric (OB) Fellows and “Family Medicine with OB” providers) on your care
Providing Services
Our midwives are part of the Tallahassee Memorial Family Medicine Residency Program (FMRP) team, where they see patients for their appointments. They also act as faculty to educate residents on obstetric and maternal care for all patients.
In addition to their work at FMRP, the midwives also treat patients at least 14 weeks into pregnancy at the Tallahassee Memorial Obstetric Emergency Room at the Alexander D. Brickler Women’s Pavilion when they are experiencing obstetrical concerns or emergencies.
Our CNMs also visit patients in five surrounding rural counties, meeting patients where they are to help throughout their pregnancy.
What to Expect
Becoming a patient is easy – just call the Tallahassee Memorial Family Medicine Residency Clinic at 850-431-5430 or request an appointment online. Pregnant patients do not have to be existing family medicine patients.
Once you become a patient, your midwife can refer you to any needed specialists, such as Maternal-Fetal Medicine, while still overseeing your care throughout your pregnancy.
When it comes time for your little one’s arrival, if you need a cesarean section (c-section), one of the doctors in the OB Fellows Program at FMRP will perform the c-section. Since the midwives and FMRP OB physician team work closely together, the Fellow assigned to your c-section will be familiar with your case.
Your midwife is then able to provide your postpartum care, up to 12 weeks. During postpartum care, they can help with family planning and arrange future family care appointments at FMRP.
To get started with midwifery care at Tallahassee Memorial, call 850-431-5430.
Meet the Midwives
Miriam Gurniak, CNM
Miriam came to North Florida in 1996, straight from the midwifery program at Yale, to serve families in Madison, Jefferson, and Taylor counties. She is now delivering the babies of babies she delivered. Miriam is widowed and has two sons: a local paramedic firefighter, and a mechanical engineer who lives in San Francisco and works on alternative energy storage. She recently acquired a new pair of purple Birkenstocks, reads voraciously, loves Classical music, and spends her downtime gardening in the yard around her 1899 Tallahassee home.
Karen Honn, CNM
Karen Honn, CNM joined Anderson Brickler Midwifery in 2017 after practicing for three years in a hospital-owned practice in Lawrence, Kansas. Utilizing her passion for empowering women and natural labor, she has chosen to bring her talent to the hospital setting so that the women of North Florida can have a peaceful birth within the reach of our highly qualified Obstetric and Neonatal professionals at TMH. Karen is a powerful, supportive voice for her patients and their families, often exceeding expectations of all in her care.
Kathleen McKeon, MSN, CNM
Kathleen McKeon, MSN, CNM, also known as “KK”, has been part of the TMH Family Medicine Residency Program since 2005.
KK received her Master’s in Nursing/Midwifery at the Medical University of South Carolina. She served 14 years Active Duty in the United States Navy, and then served 12 years in the Navy Reserves. She has worked as a CNM in Naples, Italy; North Carolina, Louisiana and in Florida. Her husband is also Retired Navy. They are both active members of St. Peter's Anglican Church here in Tallahassee. They have 2 adult children, 3 dogs, and 2 cats.
Catharina Williams, CNM
Catharina Williams hails from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where she graduated from UniRio with a BS in nursing. There, she worked with diverse populations in public and private hospitals as a Level III NICU nurse. In 2009, Catharina moved to the US where she continued her work in neonatal nursing. She decided to pursue a degree as a Nurse-Midwife because of the compassionate and nurturing patient-centered care that she received from her midwife while pregnant with her first daughter. She attended the historic Frontier Nursing School based in Kentucky and graduated with a Master's degree in 2015.
Our Location
Primary Care
Tallahassee Memorial Family Medicine Residency Clinic
1301 Hodges Dr
Tallahassee, FL 32308
Phone: 850-431-5430
