Our Team
Chico Midwifery Collective
We are a collective of three midwives who have committed to working together to provide prenatal, birth and postpartum care to the community. Sasha and Amber are certified nurse-midwives that live and work in the Chico community and will be providing prenatal care to the clients of Chico Midwifery Collective. Katarra Shaw is a licensed midwife that will arrive in Chico June 2024 to attend the births of the clients of Chico Midwifery Collective. The due dates included are from July 25th through September 14th. Katarra will always have a midwife or midwife assistant at every birth. This may include Sasha, Amber or another trusted birth attendant. Postpartum care will be provided by either Katarra or Amber.
Sasha Watts
(she/her)
Sasha Watts is a certified nurse-midwife and women’s health nurse practitioner who offers full-scope midwifery care to the greater Chico community. She was raised in Paradise, California and feels strong roots to this community and the shared experience we have. She earned her bachelor's degree in nursing (BSN) at Chico State and provided care as an RN in labor and delivery for 8 years before returning to school to earn her master’s degree. She attended UC San Francisco where she earned a Master’s degree in nursing (MSN) and was able to obtain licensure in both certified nurse-midwife (CNM) and women’s health nurse-practitioner (WHNP). She practiced at a local hospital after licensure until she branched out and decided to provide more personalized and holistic care by starting Chico Community Midwives. Sasha has developed deep and meaningful relationships with many families in this community. She provides confidence, experience, humor and attentiveness to all interactions and has developed a reputation for being safe and affirming in her care.
Chico Community Midwives is a full-scope midwifery practice that provides care with a trauma-informed, affirming focus. We offer prenatal care, birth services, postpartum, fertility including at home intrauterine insemination (IUI), gynecology services and well-person care. Initially our practice consisted of Sasha as primary midwife and Cat Nelson as birth assistant. We plan to expand by bringing more holistic and affirming birth workers to our practice. All prenatal care, gynecology, and well person care visits will be done in our office in Chico. We attend births in the comfort of your home.
Amber Rose Critchfield
(she/her)
Amber Rose Critchfield is a certified nurse-midwife offering full-scope midwifery care in Butte County. She was raised on the Big Island of Hawaii on a 5 acre coffee and macadamia nut farm and knew she wanted to attend births from a young age. Amber received her bachelor’s in nursing in 2005 from CSU, Chico. After working as a labor and delivery nurse in the Santa Cruz area, Amber attended Frontier Nursing University and received a master’s in nursing and certificate in midwifery in 2011. She worked as a midwife in the Santa Cruz area for a few years before returning to Butte County. In 2015, Amber joined the Feather River Midwives in Paradise; it is here where she feels she “grew her wings” as a midwife. In 2018, the Camp Fire forced the Feather River Midwives to close their practice. Amber then became a part of the reestablishment of midwifery care at Enloe, where she has worked since 2019. Amber has a deep love for animals, the healing arts, music, travel, food, health, yoga, nature, and of course birth. She believes in supporting the mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical aspects of her clients. Her vision is for pregnancy and birth to be an empowering experience, growing confidence, courage, and connection that carries on into motherhood and beyond.
Katarra Shaw
(she/her)
Katarra Shaw is a California Licensed Midwife, Certified Massage Practitioner and International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) who has been working with midwifery and botanical medicine for fifteen years. Her midwifery education includes a comprehensive academic and clinical training at Maternidad La Luz, a busy birth center in El Paso, Texas and attendance at many homebirths in California. She started attending births in 2009 and opened her own practice in Chico in 2013. Katarra’s massage training includes Maya Abdominal Therapy, Rolfing Structural Integration and CranioSacral Therapy. She has studied with Chico Therapy & Wellness Center, Jean Louise Green, Michael Turk, Debbie Pierce IBCLC, Cathy McLendon IBCLC, Theresa Watson IBCLC, Heartwood Institute, Dr. Rosita Arvigo, Dr. Aviva Romm, Gail Tully of Spinning Babies, herbalists Susun Weed, Matthew Wood, Lise Wolff, Upledger Institute, Barral Institute, Milne Institute, Rolf Guild for Structural Integration Carol Grey, Advanced Rolfers Jon Martine, Sharon Wheeler and John deMahy. Katarra is also faculty at Chico Massage School and teaches Yoga as a 200 hour RYT.