Health Foundations

Naturopathic Medicine & Midwifery

Photo by Rolf Hagberg

Amy Johnson-Grass, ND, LN, LM, CPM

Amy is a Naturopathic Practitioner, Minnesota State Licensed Nutritionist (N192), Minnesota State Licensed Midwife (TM1018), and Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) by the North American Registry of Midwives. Amy earned her BA in Biology and Environmental Studies from St. Olaf College and her Doctorate of Naturopathic Medicine, Master of Science in Nutrition and Certificate of Midwifery from Bastyr University.

Amy's practice is located in the Crocus Hill neighborhood on Grand Avenue in St. Paul and offers a comprehensive approach to the childbearing year and beyond, offering pregnancy care as well as general naturopathic medicine. She attends births at home, and offers a doula package for families planning hospital births.

Fall 2008 Office Hours

Starting September 2008 appointments will be available
Mondays Mornings and Wednesday and Fridays from 11:00-5:00.
Phone calls will be returned during those times.
Sometimes there may be a delay in returning phone calls if I am at a birth!

Naturopathic Practitioner

Amy's philosophy is to treat the whole person, finding the root cause of symptoms. She sees her role as an educator, someone who empowers patients to promote their innate healing abilities in conjunction with natural therapies. She identifies her patients’ personal health goals and focuses on individualized treatments which may include dietary and lifestyle modifications, whole foods nutritional counseling, botanical medicine (herbs), homeopathy, nutritional supplementation and craniosacral therapy.

Leadership Positions

Vice President of the Minnesota Association of Naturopathic Physicians
Board of Directors of The Family Tree Clinic, St. Paul

Professional Memberships

American Association of Naturopathic Physicians
Minnesota Association of Naturopathic Physicians
Minnesota Council of Certified Professional Midwives
Minnesota Childbirth Collective

Midwife

Midwives are guardians and keepers of normal, healthy pregnancy and birth.

Amy believes that birth is a natural process, not a disease, and trusts in the natural ability of women's bodies to birth their babies.

Midwives are experts in normal birth.

Amy has been educated and has experience in providing individualized, hands-on support throughout the childbearing year (pregnancy, birth, postpartum). She has expertise in nutrition, natural childbirth, breastfeeding and early parenting, as well as in identifying situations and conditions that fall outside the norm (referring to other care providers when necessary). She follows the Midwives Model of Care that includes monitoring the mother's physical, psychological and social well-being; providing education and counseling; minimizing technological interventions; and offering continuous support through labor, birth and postpartum.

Amy is honored to be there to welcome new babies into the world, to serve birthing women and their families and to participate in this miraculous part of the life cycle.

Educator

Optimal health and wellness starts with the knowledge to make informed decisions that impact your health every day. Amy gives lectures throughout the Twin Cities about various topics in Complementary & Alternative Medicine to help you make those decisions.

CAM Clinical Researcher
CAM stands for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. CAM clinical research provides valuable information about the safety and efficacy of CAM therapies. The information learned from clinical trials helps to improve health care and to keep people healthier. In September of 2005, Amy began a CAM Clinical Research Post-Doctoral Fellowship program. The Fellowship is funded by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Program administration is carried out centrally at the Berman Center for Outcomes & Clinical Research at the Minneapolis Medical Research Foundation. The CAM Clinical Research Fellowship program includes didactic coursework at the University of Minnesota leading to a Master of Science in Clinical Research, seminars, direct research experience, and mentoring with leading CAM researchers. The purpose of the Fellowship is to create a new generation of conventional and complementary health care providers who will have the knowledge, experience, and skills necessary to conduct high quality clinical and health sciences research in CAM. Through coursework, seminars, direct research experience, and mentoring with leading CAM researchers, Amy is gaining the tools necessary to become a successful CAM researcher and to compete effectively for funding in this field.

Amy conducts research in the area of CAM therapies for women's health and pediatrics.