Meredith Bowden, CPM

lives in Wilmington, NC where she became a PEP-trained CPM in 2010.  Even prior to becoming a midwife, Meredith became active in advocacy work for increasing access to midwives in NC.  As a member of NC Friends of Midwives she has hosted a fundraiser soccer tournament raising $65,000 towards those efforts over the last 10 years.  Meredith is a founding member of the NC Chapter of NACPM in which she serves as the President and holds a high value on the importance of a strong professional association.  The NCACPM Chapter continues legislative efforts for licensure of CPMs in NC.  In addition, Meredith is active with NCMA, a midwifery group focused on unity, where she hosts an annual Beach Retreat to bring together midwives from across NC for some well-earned rest and relaxation.

Meredith joined a passionate group of North Carolina CNMs and CPMs in forming NCMERA in 2016 to collaborate on increasing access to midwives and improving NC perinatal healthcare. Through the NC Community Birth Summit, first held in 2019, NCMERA along with the facilitation support of Engaging Inquiry, built the foundations of a Perinatal Systems Map.  This process is an innovative method that brings together stakeholders from across NC to identify the key factors influencing the system. It looks for the patterns that persist and identifies leverage points that can unlock the changes necessary for a healthier system.  This “zoom out” approach is unique in welcoming all voices to the table, especially those most impacted by the current system, the childbearing people of NC.