About BWB

Breech Without Borders was founded in 2018 by Dr. Rixa Freeze. After traveling to Russia in 2017 and seeing how information about breech was not crossing geographic and language borders, she was inspired to start a nonprofit organization dedicated to breech training, education, and advocacy.

BWB helps information cross many kinds of borders: not just countries and languages, but also educational and academic borders. We educate both parents and healthcare professionals, helping to translate academic research and professional experience into information that everyone can benefit from.

BWB staff

Rixa has a PhD focusing on childbirth and maternity care from the U of Iowa. Her research focus began with homebirth and unassisted birth and ended with vaginal breech birth.

Rixa Freeze, PhD

Founder & President, France/USA

David has practiced obstetrics and gynecology in resource poor settings, critical care obstetrics, and home birth, and worked for MSF in many roles including emergency obstetrics and fistula repair.

David Hayes, MD

Instructor & Medical Director, USA

Kristine has been a midwife for over 30 years and has attended over 5000 births, ranging from home, hospital, refugee camps, and remote rural clinics.

Kristine Lauria, CPM

Instructor & Global Midwifery Director. USA

Jenn is the mother of two and a former CPM & graduate of the National College of Midwifery. She is passionate about maternal health and is a member of the General Assembly of the local Hospitalito in the town where she lives on Lake Atitlan with a goal of helping to build the bridge between systems.

Jenn McCormack

Community Liaison, Guatemala

Erica is a mother, midwife, and maternal-neonatal epidemiologist. She is a passionate advocate for community birth, as well as, using research to provide high quality perinatal care. She works in a range of global settings including South Africa, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, Canada, and the United States.

Erica Corbett, CPM

Clinical Research Consultant, Canada

BWB Board of Directors

Rixa Freeze: President, USA & France
David Hayes: Medical Director, USA
Kristine Lauria: Global Midwifery Director, USA
Cecilia Varona: Latin America Outreach Coordinator, Mexico

Shannon has been attending births since 1992 at home, birth centers, and hospitals. She is engaged in community activism to improve childbirth.

Shannon Mitchell, CPM

Secretary, USA

Sarah has a background in Art and Education and became passionate about birth when she became pregnant with her daughter after graduate school. This experience began her journey into midwifery.

Sarah Tuck

Treasurer, USA

Bridget is the mother of three children: a breech singleton born vaginally and breech/cephalic twins born via an unnecessary c-section due to lack of provider skill. She is a mathematician with a background in teaching mathematics at post-secondary institutions and developing mathematics curriculum at the elementary and secondary level.

Bridget Brimacombe, PhD

Board Member At Large, Canada

DNP Research Asisstants

Megan Bentley, BS, BSN, RN
DNP Student, CNM track, Class of 2025
COLLEGE OF NURSING | SEATTLE UNIVERSITY

My name is Megan Bentley and I'm from Baltimore, Maryland. My journey into healthcare started when I began working as an EMT in my local community when I was 19 years old. While at the University of Maryland, College Park, I studied public health and human development with a specific focus on prenatal health. I began volunteering with a reproductive health hotline to address questions and concerns for college students about reproduction, sexuality, and access to local services. During my last year of undergrad, I began working as a research assistant in the department of Cognitive & Behavioral health. This experience inspired me to begin working with children on the spectrum as a Behavioral Therapist. Through these experiences, I realized I wanted to expand my scope to include reproduction and parenthood, while still incorporating child development. I began volunteering at a birth center to learn more about the role of nurses and nurse midwives. I fell in love with the ability of midwives to walk alongside their patients as they navigated pregnancy together. I currently work as a Labor & Delivery RN while attending Seattle University as a DNPIII nurse midwifery student. In my free time I enjoy traveling, live music, cooking, reading and hosting family & friends!

Sarah Holden, BS, BSN, RN
DNP Student, CNM track, Class of 2025
COLLEGE OF NURSING | SEATTLE UNIVERSITY

My name is Sarah Holden, and I am from Berkeley, California. I began my healthcare journey after studying molecular biology at the University of Washington. I worked as a Medical Assistant at a women's reproductive health clinic in Seattle and developed a passion for reproductive justice and helping women take control of their health. I have been drawn towards a career as a certified nurse-midwife because of the encouragement of taking a holistic approach to reproductive health. I see value in western-medicine approaches as well as non-pharmacological practices, and I hope to inspire and empower my patients to feel comfortable and in charge of their own reproductive health journeys. I look forward to providing well-rounded and compassionate care from a trauma-informed approach. I am excited to work with Breech Without Borders because I believe that women should have the choice to deliver vaginally in a safe setting with trained providers. Expanding the number of providers comfortable in breech vaginal deliveries helps ensure that the birthing person is able to deliver the way they want to in the safest way possible. Outside of healthcare, I enjoy spending my free time exercising, reading, and traveling. I am adventure seeking and love to try new things. I have lived in the Pacific Northwest for over 9 years, and I value time outdoors connecting with nature and friends.