Cristina Alonso

Cristina Alonso (she/her) holds a doctorate in public health and is a midwife specializing in sexual and reproductive health. She worked over two decades in Latin America improving access to safe abortion and childbirth.

Cristina opened and operated full scope birth centers in Mexico. She operationalized this model through several peer review articles defining and standardizing birth centers in low and middle income countries as well as an operations manual that is available in Spanish, English and French. Cristina has worked with governments, international organizations and midwifery associations across Latin America, the Caribbean and Asia to integrate this model of care into national healthcare systems.

In the US, Cristina has worked as a consultant to several midwifery and reproductive health organizations including the American College of Nurse Midwives, Center for Reproductive Rights, and Elephant Circle. Currently she serves as the director for pregnancy, infancy and early childhood at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. She has served on several midwifery and childbirth boards, including Our Bodies Ourselves since 2021.