Krista Johnson, CNM, APRN, CLC

My name is Krista and I’m so happy to be joining Willow as a midwife and lactation counselor. My birth journey began before I was even born, with my mother. She was a labor and delivery nurse in the 60s and 70s who saw the dark side of medicalized maternity care firsthand. When she got pregnant, she chose natural childbirth instead and I was raised in that culture. My interest in birth became a passion as my first pregnancy went from low risk to high risk to emergent in a matter of hours and ended far differently from my dreams. Over the following years and subsequent VBACs, the dream of midwifery took root but continued to take a back seat to life. I returned to school for my nursing degree as a second career and went straight into obstetric nursing in a high risk, underserved community in the South. During the 5 years I worked as LDRP mother/baby nurse I returned to graduate school to continue my dream.

I graduated with my MSN in midwifery and realized two lifelong dreams when I accepted a position in Fairbanks to work in a birth center serving the 500-mile radius of Interior Alaska. Living in the last frontier truly was life changing. However, the birth center’s eventual closure opened the door for my wife and I to move closer to family and brought us home to the Midwest and to Willow.

My focus is on trauma informed care, gender affirming care, and reducing health disparities. I am a member of the American College of Nurse Midwives, American Association of Birth Centers, and Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing. I’m married to Sarah, a musician and musicology professor who is currently changing careers to become a marriage and family therapist. We have two fur babies and my favorite things to do are spending time with my family, reading, kayaking, and traveling. I am honored to be a part of each person’s journey in life and I look forward serving the people of Willow!