Months after the Arizona Department of Health Services began efforts to suspend two Mesa midwives' licenses, one is scheduled for an administrative law hearing Thursday.
Both midwives work for Willow Midwife Center for Birth and Wellness in Mesa. They were accused of violating state health requirements for monitoring the fetal heart tones before a stillbirth in November 2023.
Earlier this year, the parents of the stillborn baby, Noelle and Dylan Zmrzel, also filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the birth center.
Midwife Nicole Amador is scheduled to face an administrative law judge Thursday for a hearing about the future of her license.
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"We'd like to see some kind of accountability," Dylan Zmrzel told ABC15 on Wednesday. He said the outcome of the administrative case can't change the tragic outcome for his family. However, he's concerned about other families, and he said several other parents already reached out to him, "telling their horrific stories that happened over there."
Mana Muhajir, the other midwife from the Zmrzel case, finalized a confidential settlement with state regulators earlier this month, according to the ADHS website. The website lists her license as active.
Both Muhajir and Amador are non-nurse midwives.
While awaiting her hearing involving the Zmrzel case, Amador was also cited by ADHS for 8 licensing violations related to the care she provided to a mother and a baby born in respiratory distress in December 2024.
A spokeswoman for Willow Midwife Center told ABC15 that the company could not legally comment about the case, but she said both midwives still work for the company.
