Our Mission

As nurse-midwives and long-term providers of women’s health care, we believe that every woman is entitled to comprehensive, community-oriented health care in a setting that supports cultural variations and fosters the dignity of each individual. We view the components of healthcare to include the emotional, spiritual and physical needs of the individual. Pregnancy and childbirth are viewed as normal life processes and every woman should be allowed to actively participate in the decision-making and planning of her care.

Our Nurse-Midwives

Kathleen Donaldson, CNM, MS

I am originally from Fort Worth, Texas. I attended Texas Christian University graduating in 1984 with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN). In 1987 I completed the Women’s Health Care Advanced Nurse Practitioner (NP) program at U.T. Southwestern. For the next 10 years, I worked for the Tarrant County Hospital District at John Peter Smith Hospital. I served as an OB/GYN NP as well as Director of Women’s Ambulatory Services.

In 1999, I completed the Parkland School of Nurse Midwifery in Dallas, Texas, as well as my Masters Degree. I practiced Nurse-Midwifery and served as associate faculty at UT Southwestern and at Parkland Hospital until 2004 at which time I joined North Texas Affiliated Medical Group (NTAMG).

Tania Lopez, CNM, MS

I graduated from Southwestern Adventist University in 1993 with an associate’s degree in nursing. I later received my BS in Nursing from UTA in 1997, and my Masters Degree in Nursing from Texas Women’s University in 2001. I worked as an RN in postpartum/new-born nursery, Emergency department, and labor and delivery at both John Peter Smith and Huguley Hospital.

I attended midwifery school and graduated in 2000 from Parkland School of Nurse-Midwifery – Which is now associated with the Baylor College of Nursing. I attended over 600 deliveries at both Parkland and Baylor Hospital before joining the UNT Physician Group in October, 2005. I also served as Faculty at SWAU School of Nursing form 2003-2005.

Candis Pannell, CNM, MSN

Originally from Ft Worth, I moved with my husband to Galveston Texas to attend nursing school at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB). Once I received my BS in Nursing, I began working as a labor and delivery nurse at the university hospital. In 2001, I completed the Graduate program in which I obtained my Master’s Degree in Nursing as well as my certificate to practice midwifery.

I moved back to the Dallas/Ft Worth area not only to be close to my family but also to accept a position as a staff midwife with Parkland Hospital. My 6 years at Parkland gave me invaluable experience as well as a diverse population base to serve. I attended over 1150 births before joining UNT Health in February 2008.

Gloria Glidewell

I have had a life-long interest in women’s health. I remember even as an adolescent reading articles about women’s health and women’s bodies in my mother’s magazines and being fascinated. It took several years to find the career that best expressed what I believed in and that promoted the kind of care that I thought women deserved. I first learned about nurse-midwifery when I saw a film about midwives. That film, now years old, included a segment on a nurse-midwife here in Texas who worked in the Rio Grande Valley-Sister Angela.

I knew two things from watching that film. This was what I wanted to do, and this was how I wanted women to be able to have their babies. A few years later, I was able to find out first hand when my own daughter was “caught” by a Certified Nurse Midwife.

After spending 14 years as a full time mother, I went back to school when my daughter started school. I received my bachelor of Science in Nursing from Texas Woman’s University in 1992, and my masters degree in Maternal Child Health in 2003. While working on those two degrees, I worked in Labor and Delivery at two different hospitals, then went to the Parkland School of Nurse-midwifery and was certified as a nurse midwife in 1999.

After working the busy labor unit and clinics at Parkland for two and a half years, I experienced a different setting working in a local birth center the following two years. I then joined a private practice in San Antonio and enjoyed both the Alamo City and the wonderful practice there, but missed my family and friends back in Fort Worth. Last year I was fortunate to be invited to join the University of North Texas Physician’s Group where midwifery is promoted, appreciated and supported by our consulting medical doctors and the nurses with whom we work, as well as the administration, and our wonderful patients.