Meet the Management Team

Director:
Kelli Sugihara
Certified Professional Medical Biller

Sustainable midwifery practice is my passion! My mother is a midwife and my bedroom was the birthroom when I was in high school. I knew when the phone rang at 2:00 in the morning, I had to get up and change my sheets. That was back in the bad ol' days and we entertained the local police a couple of times on the front porch, too. But Dad was an attorney and he always managed to keep Mom out of jail.

Laws changed over the years, and Mom asked me to help her with her insurance billing in 1997. I attended the local community college and received my first certification, and I've been involved in the midwifery insurance cycle ever since. I have been self-employed and also worked for a midwife billing service for several years as an independent contractor. I recently renamed our company to better reflect who we are and am excited to be able to continue serving midwives throughout the country. I am taking a supervisory, or director's role, ensuring correct coding and timely follow-up from our billers. 

I am also the Business instructor for Midwives College of Utah and thoroughly enjoy helping new midwives understand the business aspects of their practice as they get started. I live in Enumclaw, WA with my husband (a twin born at home), three children (all born with midwives) and a few cats (also born at home). I enjoy research and public speaking, and find time for food gardening and quilting. 

Consultant:
Mifawnwy Decker Carlson
Licensed Midwife

Mifawnwy (Mif) heard her call to midwifery in the mid-70’s and began catching babies after working with the Fremont Midwives in Seattle. She was in the first class at Seattle Midwifery School and became licensed in 1985, the first Native midwife in Washington. She has seen a lot of changes in the regulation of midwifery care and still enjoys working with young women and their families. She has also worked at the local hospital as a phlebotomist where she was requested by many because of her gentle and accurate 'pokes'. She has five grown children, three grown foster children and seven grandchildren. After her first husband passed away in 1996, she remarried and now lives in Olalla, WA--and still catches a baby once in  awhile. She is active in the Kitsap Birth Collective and is the midwife on staff for the Poplar Birth Center in Port Orchard, WA. She enjoys painting and drawing in her spare time and is always available to answer questions about midwifery care, complications or lab work.