By Sarah Morgan Johnson

Over the course of her 33 years as a certified nurse-midwife, Melissa Terry Fish, MSN, CNM (MSN 1986), has delivered thousands of babies. Fish earned her Post Masters Midwifery Certificate from the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing in 1991, fulfilling a lifelong dream.

When Fish’s mother was pregnant with her youngest sibling, she gave Fish a book to help her understand birth and pregnancy. One of the women in the book was cared for by a nurse-midwife, and this was Fish’s early introduction to midwifery. She remembers being mesmerized by the photos of developing in utero babies.

Realizing that all these little, tiny details of the baby could be seen so early was like magic to me, Fish said.

From that moment on, Fish wanted to be a certified nurse-midwife. She went on to graduate from the UAB School of Nursing with a Master of Science in Nursing degree and worked as a labor and delivery nurse. When the School called to see if she would be interested in the Post Masters Nurse-Midwifery Certificate, the answer was obvious. Even though she had a 1-year-old, a full-time job in an infertility program and a husband who had just accepted a job in Mobile, she was determined to take advantage of this opportunity.

Fish returned to the School and successfully earned her Post Masters Nurse-Midwifery Certificate. As she reflects on what the School has meant to her both personally and professionally, Fish says she could not have asked for a better educational experience.

The UAB School of Nursing has been such a place of growth and development for me. I stepped through the doors for the first time at 24 years old with just two years of labor and delivery experience and gained so much in my MSN program. I made some phenomenal friends and learned some amazing technology. Then coming back for the Post Masters Nurse-Midwifery Certificate gave me the opportunity to learn the history of birth and how women need to be cared for from the UABSON faculty. Becoming a certified nurse-midwife was who I always wanted to be and what I always wanted to do, Fish said.

After graduation, Fish joined the School as faculty. While she cherished working with students alongside the talented nurse-midwifery faculty, her desire to practice as a certified nurse-midwife only grew stronger.

It was very difficult as a brand-new certified nurse-midwife who wanted to work with patients to stand there and tell the students how to put their hands on the patient’s belly. I did not embrace that role right away because I still very much wanted to do it myself, Fish said.

After the birth of her second child, Fish decided to reenter practice and worked at clinics in Montgomery, Ala. and LaGrange, Ga. When her family moved to South Carolina, Fish joined a practice, Catawba Nurse-Midwives, where she worked full-time. After five years, her family moved again to Georgia, where she worked at OBGYN Associates of St. Francis for 24 years.

Fish cherishes the relationships she was able to form with clients as a full-time certified nurse-midwife. She has always been invested in her clients and their lives, her care for them extending past the exam and delivery room.

I know their family members. I know what their work is and what their stressors are. Many of them I had known for years and delivered many babies for. Some of my clients I had delivered when they were born and then got to experience delivering their babies. I very much invested in them. Some people may argue that isn’t the best policy because of the emotional toll it can take on the practitioner, but I couldn’t have done it any other way, Fish said.

Beyond delivering 4,000 babies, Fish has organized hospital trainings for certified nurse-midwives, connected her clients to addiction recovery programs, helped facilitate adoptions, taught health education classes through her church, celebrated her clients’ milestones and grieved their losses. When she retired in September 2024, her former clients put together a book to commemorate the impact she has had on thousands of women through her career. Her patients submitted photos and letters detailing how Fish listened to them and cared for them.

Fish credits much of the success she has had as a certified nurse-midwife to the foundation she received during her time at UAB. When the School announced the return of the MSN Nurse-Midwifery Pathway in 2022, Fish was thrilled.

I was so excited to hear that the Nurse-Midwifery Pathway was returning to the School. It makes me so happy for women in the Birmingham community and in Alabama. We as certified nurse-midwives have to make sure that women get respectful care and all the opportunities they need, Fish said.