The Arizona State Board of Nursing has temporarily suspended two former midwives from the now-shuttered Willow Midwife Center for Birth and Wellness in Mesa, barring Wendy Shaw and Pamela Moran from providing maternity care or delivering babies until administrative law judges review their cases in September. The action follows complaints from multiple families who say their care at Willow ended in tragedy, including the deaths of two babies.
As reported by ABC15 Arizona, the nursing board investigated five nurse midwives who had worked at Willow, taking no action against a fifth midwife after an investigator found new information was not part of the original case. The board also tabled cases involving two additional Willow midwives for a future meeting. Shaw and Moran, according to the outlet, both worked at the Willow Midwife Center for Birth and Wellness in Mesa, which delivered hundreds of babies a year across three Valley locations before shutting down.
Among the families who filed complaints alleging substandard care were Dan and Carson Neisess, who reported that their baby, Winston, died days after being born at a Willow facility with the umbilical cord around his neck in 2023. The nursing board investigated Shaw after receiving five complaints, according to the same ABC15 report. Dan Neisess said nothing can bring his son back.
What Investigators Found in Moran's Case
The board suspended Moran's midwife certificate pending a full administrative law judge hearing after finding she failed to initiate a timely transfer of a laboring mother to the hospital, a case in which the laboring woman's baby was stillborn. Investigators also found Moran discharged a new mother without adequate stabilization following a postpartum hemorrhage, per the ABC15 account. A board investigator further reported that medical records were altered in connection with the case.
Moran's lawyer, Bruce Smith, argued that her registered nurse license should remain active, telling ABC15 there is no basis to find that her current practice poses any imminent threat to the citizens of the state of Arizona. Smith also said the clinical record is the same — the fetal heart tones, the maternal heart tones, they are the same. Willow's lawyers have maintained that the midwives acted in a prudent, reasonable manner and have denied allegations of wrongdoing, the station reported. Moran can continue working at a college nursing program despite the suspension of her midwife certificate, and the board has separately disciplined her in an unrelated case, according to the same report.
Moran's regulatory history predates the Willow suspensions. Arizona Nursing Board records reported by 12News show her nursing license was suspended in June 2020 following a 2019 complaint alleging a 12-hour delay in referring a postpartum patient for emergency care. She later surrendered her California nursing license in May 2021, the outlet reported.
Shaw's Defense and a Prior Board Review
Shaw has been barred from all nursing work until her administrative law judge hearing, per ABC15's reporting. Her lawyer argued that the board had previously investigated the Neisess complaint in 2024 and declined to take action at that time, raising questions about why the case was revisited now. Lawyers for both Moran and Shaw did not respond to ABC15's requests for comment after the outlet contacted them twice by email and phone on Friday.
The nursing board says it will make final disciplinary decisions only after the September hearings, which will be conducted by administrative law judges. Under Arizona's administrative process, those judges at the Office of Administrative Hearings conduct evidentiary hearings and issue recommended findings, but the Board of Nursing retains final statutory authority to impose, modify, or dismiss any sanctions, according to a report from the Arizona Auditor General. Emergency suspensions like these are only permitted under Arizona law when the board formally finds that public health, safety, or welfare imperatively requires it, a standard detailed by the firm Stark Law PC.
A Pattern of Complaints Beyond the Nursing Board
Willow's troubles extended well beyond the nursing board's jurisdiction. Parents Noelle and Dylan Zmrzel filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Maricopa County Superior Court in February 2025 against Willow Birth Center and midwives including Moran, after their baby, James, was stillborn in November 2023 following a 36-hour labor at 42 weeks gestation, 12News reported. Separately, the Arizona Department of Health Services cited Willow midwives for multiple care violations, including failing to check fetal heart tones every 15 minutes after a patient's amniotic bag ruptured and failing to establish emergency care plans, according to a report from WQAD.
Another midwife who worked alongside Moran at Willow, Nicole Amador, agreed in July 2025 to a six-month license suspension and one year of probation with the health department following violations during two deliveries, according to a department record shared on Facebook. Law firm Snyder & Wenner announced in December 2024 that Willow Birth Center agreed to settle a separate wrongful death lawsuit for its full insurance policy limits following the death of an infant under its care; ABC15 reported that Willow settled lawsuits with the Neisess family and two others without admitting fault.
Financial Collapse Preceded the Closure
Willow closed its last birth center after its owners filed for bankruptcy in April 2026, according to ABC15's report. Former employees told KPHO that owners had stopped paying staff up to a year before the closure, leaving workers owed thousands of dollars as all three Valley locations shut down. Willow had also filed a federal contract lawsuit in November 2024 against medical billing firms Revascent LLC and Innovation Billing Services Inc., court filings in U.S. District Court show, pointing to financial strain well before the bankruptcy.
Willow had been accredited by the American Association of Birth Centers and allowed deliveries up to 42 weeks gestation, a policy that attorneys handling post-term labor injury claims have questioned, according to FOX 10 Phoenix. With the September hearings still ahead, the nursing board's final word on whether Shaw and Moran will ever again be allowed to practice remains unresolved.
