Ellie Daniels, CPM, is an apprentice-trained midwife who became impassioned about midwifery and homebirth following the unattended homebirth of her first child in 1978. She had two more children with a midwife in attendance, and has helped to deliver her own two grandchildren. She founded Morningstar Midwifery in 1983, and has attended over 700 births since. She is committed to mentoring students and apprentices in her practice, which she shares with her partner, Donna.

She has been active in the organization of midwifery both in Maine and nationally. She has been on the faculty of Maine's midwifery school, Birthwise, since its founding in 1994. She is the President of the Midwifery Education Accreditation Council, the national accrediting agency for direct entry midwifery schools. In particular, she is moved to influence and change the culture of birth in this country from the ground up, and has written a children's book and a curriculum for middle school students about natural birth, which she teaches in her local public school.

Ellie splits her time between attending homebirths, managing her environmental products business, The Green Store, playing piano, and doing her midwifery organizational work. In between, she always reserves a little time for her favorite activity: holding the babies!

Donna is a Certified Professional Midwife, who began her pursuit of midwifery after the birth of her daughter at home in 1993. She completed her academic studies with the Massachusetts Midwives Alliance in 1995. She has been supporting women through pregnancy and birth since 1999, and has now attended over 150 births.

Donna spent a short time working and studying midwifery in a small birthing center on the Texas/Mexico border. She currently attends homebirths, teaches childbirth education classes through Morningstar Midwifery, and attends in-hospital births as a labor assistant/doula. She also works on the state level to ensure the future of homebirth midwifery in Maine.

Donna first came from New Mexico to Maine in 1997. After spending a glorious summer living, working and playing on an organic farm in Liberty, she decided to make Maine her permanent home. Now, she spends her summers gardening, sea kayaking, and bicycling (always wearing her pager!) on the Maine coast.

During the winter, she spends a lot of time indoors spinning, knitting, and socializing. She holds a monthly knitting group for new and expectant mothers, during which moms spend much more time visiting and nursing babies than actually knitting!