Melissa Peterson, CNM

Melissa grew up in La Verne, California, a small town tucked into Los Angeles County, and headed to Southern Illinois University Edwardsville to study biology. It was a Women's Studies minor that changed her trajectory, those classes opened her eyes to the gaps in how women's health was delivered and sparked her curiosity about midwifery. She detoured first into medical research, working on an endometrial cancer project at Washington University in St. Louis, but the pull toward hands-on patient care was too strong. Melissa earned her nursing and midwifery degrees at Vanderbilt, where clinical rotations at the university medical center confirmed what she already knew: she belonged in the birth room. Her training at military hospitals including Fort Campbell and Fort Bragg gave her experience across the full spectrum of obstetric care. At MomDoc's Gilbert office, Melissa also offers IUI treatment for patients navigating fertility, drawing on her research-minded background to guide families through one of the most hopeful, and sometimes daunting, journeys of their lives.