Ancient Paths Midwifery | Meet the Midwives

Lori Luyten, Licensed Midwife

Lori has been in private midwifery practice since 2000. When asked why she became a midwife her reply is, “I didn't choose to be a midwife, midwifery chose me. God planted the midwife seed into my tender heart long before I knew what a midwife was. I "played house" like most little girls but I also played "newborn nursery" and cared for my pretend mama's”.

After graduating from high school Lori began to pursue a nursing career to become a certified nurse midwife. Before finishing school she married her husband, started having babies and instead focused on her family and mothering. Each of her births impacted her life but the birth of her third spurred her into the birth world. She became a certified Bradley® childbirth teacher and DONA certified birth doula. After attending the birth of her very first students she knew that she had found her 'calling' and had to once again pursue her childhood dream of caring for women and babies. A couple weeks later she was enrolled in midwifery school, began an apprenticeship and spent time in the Netherlands with her husbands midwife aunt who passed on her wisdom and love of midwifery.

Denise Munguia, LM, CPM

It was her own experience being cared for by Midwives during her pregnancy and having a water birth that spurred Denise into becoming a midwife herself. Having experienced both obstetric care and then midwifery care and seeing the differences and what birth could be, she changed career paths and enrolled in the Nizhoni Midwifery Institute in San Diego.

Denise completed her clinical residency at APM an graduated from Nizhoni in 2014. She is licensed in the State of Ca and Certified nationally as a CPM. Fluent in Spanish, devoted to her work and with an excellent attention to detail, Denise is a vital and wonderful part of the APM team.

Your Team

Lori and Denise work together as a team to provide you the best care possible! You will see each of them for your prenatal visits so when you have your baby, you'll know your whole team. They rotate who takes call (answering the phones at night) as well as clinic days and are on-call 24/7 for their clients. Each Midwife has a warmth and love for what they do that pours over for one another and the families they serve.

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Lori and her husband have been married for 36 years and have four children, two daughters-in-love and eight precious grandchildren. Her first 2 births were interventive and medicated hospital births, the third was a natural hospital “Bradley” birth and her fourth was born wonderfully at home with a midwife in attendance. Lori is an avid reader, quilter and loves history and hockey. When not at the birth center you can often find her enjoying a Ducks game, playing with her dogs or relaxing with a good book.

Denise and her beautiful daughter live right here in Chino. She is the 'party planner' of her extended family and has a gift for making others feel celebrated and special. She loves to dance, work out and is an excellent cook. At APM Denise is often the one who brings in goodies, decorates and oversees the Student Midwifery Team. During her free time Denise can often be found at Disneyland with her daughter and friends.

Midwifery Training

Lori completed a midwifery training program as well as apprenticeship (clinical training). She also participated in an externship program in Jamaica, West Indies. As required for State Licensing at the time, Lori completed the California Challenge Process through Seattle Midwifery School. She has also completed the Bridge Program through MEAC. In the last few years Lori has worked as an Expert Reviewer for the Medical Board of California.

Denise graduated at the top of her class from MEAC accredited Nizhoni Institute and completed her midwifery clinical residency training at APM. Being the cream fo the crop of students, she was added to the APM Midwifery Staff upon completion.

APM midwives are licensed by the State of California as a Licensed Midwives and have fulfilled the NARM (North America Registry of Midwives) requirements for national certification becoming a Certified Professional Midwife (CPM).

As part of APM’s commitment to excellence, the midwives endeavors to update their knowledge and skills by attending regular midwifery and obstetrics education workshops, conferences and using current evidence within the practice.

Waterbirth Training

Lori's waterbirth 'training' began when she was pregnant with her fourth child in 1998. At that time, water birth wasn't something offered by local midwives and the internet was just becoming available to the public. Lori became friends with a woman she met online who introduced her to the concept of waterbirth. That woman turned out to be midwife, author of Gentle Birth Choices and founder of Waterbirth International; Barbara Harper. Barbara helped educate Lori and her midwife about how to do a waterbirth, what supplies to get and helped her get a tub. She birthed her daughter in water in her living room and knew instantly that this was something more women needed to know about! She and Barbara remain good friends!

In October of 2004 and again in 2006, Lori had the privilege to travel to Germany and complete advanced water birth training with both Barbara Harper and German midwife Cornelia Enning. Since Lori began going to births, she has attended over 1000 births of babies born in water and lectured at conferences on waterbirth. Together Lori and Denise are able to teach midwifery students and families the nuances about birthing in water.

Lori and Denise are all known for their hard work, dedication to excellence and attention to detail. They are compassionate, friendly and believe that women deserve to be included in their care and treated with respect.

Disclaimer: Licensed Midwives are not medical doctors and hold no nursing licences

Lori's Intro