After violations during two births, Mesa midwife agrees to license suspension

After being cited by the Arizona Department of Health Services for violations of health rules during two births, midwife Nicole Amador has agreed to a 6-month license suspension and a one-year probationary period.

According to the ADHS website, the settlement with Amador relates to a case involving eight licensing violations for the care she provided to a mother and a baby born in respiratory distress in December 2024.

According to a notice, dated June 23, ADHS intended to suspend Amador’s license for three years. That notice was issued just days before Amador was scheduled to appear in an administrative law hearing about an alleged licensing violation related to a stillborn baby in November 2023.

At the time of both births, Amador worked for Willow Midwife Center for Birth and Wellness in Mesa.

The parents of the stillborn baby, Noelle and Dylan Zmrzel, also filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the birth center.

“We’d like to see some kind of accountability,” Zmrzel told ABC15 last week.

Mana Muhajir, another midwife cited for a violation in the Zmrzel case, finalized a confidential settlement with state regulators in early June, according to the ADHS website. The website lists her license as active.

Both Muhajir and Amador are non-nurse midwives.

This week, a spokeswoman for Willow Midwife Center told ABC15 that the company would not comment on the cases, in part due to HIPAA health privacy regulations. Amador’s bio no longer appears on the company’s website.