Cindy Brigham-Althoff
Certified nurse midwife · Women's health
6–10 years of experience
Menopause Society Certified Practitioner
About Minimize the Pause
Cindy Brigham-Althoff runs Minimize the Pause as a solo menopause practice in Spokane. New patient visits are booked for 55 minutes and returning visits for 25 or 55 minutes, which she contrasts with the 10 to 15 minute visits of the high volume clinics she worked in before. She spent her career as a nurse midwife, delivering babies at Deaconess and Sacred Heart, and calls her way of working a midwifery approach where she lays out evidence-based options and the patient chooses. She does not routinely order a blood draw or a pelvic exam unless symptoms point to one, and says she works in a trauma-informed way where nothing is required. Most of what she prescribes is FDA-approved and can be filled at any pharmacy. She also hosts menopause parties, travelling to a host's home to run an open conversation about menopause for a group of around ten friends.
Care
Treats
- Perimenopause
- Menopause
- Hot flashes
- Sleep problems
- Mood & anxiety
- Brain fog
- Vaginal dryness
- Low libido
- Irregular periods
Cost and insurance
Insurance
Doesn’t accept insurance
Provides itemized receipts you can submit for out-of-network reimbursement.
Self-pay
- New patient visit, 55 minutes
- $250
- Returning patient visit, 25 minutes
- $150 per visit
- Returning patient visit, 55 minutes
- $250 per visit
- Menopause party, under 5 miles from the office
- $250
- Menopause party, 5 to 10 miles from the office
- $300
- HSA and FSA accepted
Lab work is sent out to LabCorp or Quest where patients can use their own insurance, and most prescriptions she writes are FDA-approved and can be filled at any pharmacy on insurance.
Verified October 2026.
Qualifications
DNP, ARNP, CNM, MSCP