Mother-Daughter Baylor Nursing Alums Bring Recognition to the Value of Midwives
In the spirit of National Nurses Week and Mother’s Day, Baylor’s Louise Herrington School of Nursing highlights mother-daughter DNPs who lean into a different kind of care model
Baylor University's Louise Herrington School of Nursing in Dallas. (Robert Rogers/Baylor University)
Contact: Lori Fogleman, 254-709-5959
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DALLAS – Midwifery has evolved significantly over the years, particularly in its integration into the broader healthcare system, and two Doctor of Nursing Practice (D.N.P.) in Nurse-Midwifery graduates from Baylor University’s Louise Herrington School of Nursing (LHSON) – who happen to be mother and daughter – are among those bringing recognition to the value of midwives.
Taylor Houser, D.N.P. ’18, B.S.N. ’12, CNM, and her mother Carla Morrow, D.N.P. ’10, always dreamed about practicing together as nurse-midwives, making it a reality with their first practice in 2013.
“It’s a unique experience to build and lead a practice alongside someone who not only shares your professional vision but also knows you on a deep, personal level. No one knows you and sees you like your mom,” Houser said.
Today, the mother-daughter duo operates a thriving hospital-based midwifery practice in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex that supports close to 1,800 births annually.
“We had a shared vision of creating a different kind of care model, one that centered on continuity, accessibility and physiologic birth,” Houser said. “There is growing recognition of the value that midwives bring in improving outcomes, reducing intervention rates and enhancing patient satisfaction while also maintaining excellent statistics, including low cesarean delivery rates and low NICU admission rates.”
Although today’s modern midwife is navigating a more complex environment, Houser said what has remained constant is the core of midwifery: presence, trust in the birth process and advocacy for women and families.
Both Houser and Morrow earned their advanced degrees through Baylor Nursing’s nationally ranked DNP program. They specialized in Nurse-Midwifery, a Baylor program ranked among the nation’s Top 20 graduate programs by U.S. News & World Report.
“My education from Baylor’s Louise Herrington School of Nursing provided a strong clinical foundation and emphasized evidence-based practice, which is essential in midwifery,” Houser said. “Beyond clinical skills, the program fostered critical thinking, professional accountability and leadership development. Those elements have been just as important as I've moved into practice ownership and organizational leadership. The combination of rigorous academic preparation and real-world clinical exposure helped me develop the confidence to manage complex situations while still prioritizing patient-centered care. It also laid the groundwork for my involvement in advocacy and advancing the role of midwives within the healthcare system.”
ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY
Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked Research 1 institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for 20,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions. Learn more about Baylor University at www.baylor.edu.
ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY LOUISE HERRINGTON SCHOOL OF NURSING
The Baylor University Louise Herrington School of Nursing (LHSON), located in Dallas, was established in 1909 as a diploma program within Baylor Hospital in Dallas, which is now Baylor Scott & White Health’s Baylor University Medical Center, and in 1950 became one of the six degree-granting schools of Baylor University. The first Baccalaureate degrees were granted in 1952, establishing the School among the earliest baccalaureate nursing programs in Texas. In 1999, the School was renamed the Baylor University Louise Herrington School of Nursing after Louise Herrington Ornelas, a 1992 Baylor Alumna Honoris Causa, who made an endowment gift to the School. The LHSON offers Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degrees through Traditional, FastBacc® (one-year accelerated) and Distance Accelerated BSN programs. Plus, the LHSON offers an online Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program with tracks that include Family Nurse Practitioner, Nurse-Midwifery, Neonatal Nurse Practitioner, Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, Adult Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner, Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, Executive Nurse Leadership and U.S. Army Anesthesia Nursing (USAGPAN). Notably in the latest U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges rankings, Baylor’s BSN program jumped into the Top 30 at No. 28, while RegisteredNursing.org ranked the Best Accelerated BSN Programs No. 2 in Texas. The latest 2026 U.S. News Best Graduate Schools rankings list several LHSON programs, including the DNP program at No. 37 nationally. The DNP-Nurse Midwifery program track is in the Top 20 at No. 16 and The U.S. Army-Baylor graduate program in anesthesia nursing (USAGPAN), which operates at the U.S. Army Medical Center of Excellence at Joint Base San Antonio, Fort Sam Houston, in San Antonio, is ranked in the Top 10 to No. 3 nationally. To learn more, visit the School of Nursing website.