Greets
My deepest desire is to walk along side women one-woman-at-a-time, thru the-childbearing-year. My heart tells me to mother & nurture the women who come under my care while surrounding them with the support of a true sisterhood. I believe whole heartedly that by creating an emotionally and physically safe field around the mother is one of the main keys to help her achieve a normal straightforward physiological birth! A birth that she may become empowered by and proud of. My wish is for her to claim what is rightfully her own, as she births and emerges as forth as mother.
It is this truth that I believe is missing from the medical model of care. While I also believe whole heartedly in the basic fundamentals of care that are available thru modern medicine and maternity care, I also believe in facilitating a person’s Health (with a capital “H” that implies health and wellbeing) by addressing nervous system balance, nutrition, physical therapy, community building, spiritual practice and paced emotional exploration through somatic therapy along with the traditional aspects of labs and ultrasounds with necessary maternal and fetal surveillance.
It is my humble opinion: How a woman is treated in her pregnancy and the circumstances around her transition leading into motherhood can powerfully impact how she will grow to feel about herself as a woman, as a mother. The role of the care giver must be compassionate as to not shame the mother. If you render her in a way that leaves an impression that she is incapable of giving birth without medical intervention this can more often than not embeds itself in the subconsciousness, in the way that she is not good enough. Caregivers should be mindful to never disempower a woman thru the use of intervention or that her breast milk or her nursing style is wrong. The reason for this is neuroplasticity is definition as the ability for the nervous system to rewire itself in some way that differs from how it previously functioned. On a real physiological level, women are the most neuroplastic during labor, delivery and the weeks postpartum. Babies are also born extremely neuroplastic. In fact, the most neuroplastic ages happens between conception and the first year of life. By utilizing medications for birth it leaves a chemical imprint in the DNA which tells the nervous system how to wire itself for both babies and for women. By placing women on a delivery table on her back with a spot light on her vagina is a posture that subconsciously disempowers women. By telling her a bag of Pitocin is only synthetic oxytocin and exactly the same as the oxytocin chemical being made by your body implying it acts the same, is not only dishonest and is either a statement made out of ignorance or in order for the medical team and the birthing mother to feel good about what they are doing. The routine administration Pitocin postpartum after a beautiful normal straight forward vaginal birth has the potential to cause postpartum depression as it suddenly cuts off the brains ability to be resilient in order to meet the need of making her own oxytocin. Oxytocin by the way if often referred to as the love hormone as it is the chemical that wires us for love and connection. I am not in any way discrediting the use of interventions for medical need. However, so much was discovered thru the research called the genome project complete in 2004 which speaks about brain health, genetics, and disease that looks towards the primal health period between conception, birth and the first year of life. When is psychology and neurobiology of pregnancy and birth going to be recognized? The authorities keep asking why the infant and maternity morbidity and mortality rate keeps getting worse in the United States. The answers 100% lay here.
There is so much involved in nursing success and thriving of mom and baby in the first few weeks of life then can be expressed here. The most important thing we know that increases the success of breastfeeding is support. That support begins through her pregnancy. You can very much unknowingly leave an imprint of negativity as a provider feeling the need to “manage” her care. The model of care that seeks to “manage” the pregnant mother or her birth subconsciously imprint a sense of distrust. By distrusting her body you are instilling untrusting her ability to be a mother and this can render a woman powerless. I can not say this enough. The way to help woman have healthy and strong pregnancies is by helping her build her physical reserves through diet and exercise, you help her to feel supported and connected to herself and her community. Women want to feel cared for.
Each woman is unique in what she needs. For some it about learning about diet and understanding the ways to take care of oneself. I teach my clients the basics of blood sugar regulation so that they understand why a diet rich in amino acids is important and why blood sugar regulation is essential to endocrine or hormonal function. I teach them about the physiology of blood pressure so that they understand what it means and how to regulate. For some people it’s about managing high levels of stress.
All of this is within my consideration with each unique woman during the child bearing year. All of this on top of all the labs, referrals and paperwork. I take phone calls all times of the days and night. I try to be present and available for each individual through their pregnancy and postpartum. Once the babies come I do 4-5 home visits to offer lactation support. I teach families how to help their babies regulate and how to physically support their bodies in order to master the essential motor skills to nurse easily and effectively. I offer prenatal massage therapy and Craniosacral therapy to every woman under my care at term. I also teach families how to do lite manual therapy on their newborns to help with gas and facilitate strengthening of the muscular skeletal muscles needed for baby to effectively nurse, suck, swallow and breathing all at the same time.
For a lucky 36 – 48 women a year, I walk beside for this childbearing year. It is my honor and my privilege to do so.
My life is indeed full. My entire existence is holding space for women and babies. To offer stillness and a slowing down. Providing all the necessary support medical care. Many times a week I collaborate with other providers making sure we have access to the best possible care in a timely manner. If any of my ladies need me I am just a phone call away.
Outside of this I am also a single mother to a young child. I create time to exercise every day and do all the things I can to stay fit and healthy. I have horse and I spend as much time as I can outside with him. The other part of my job is to provide safety for a woman during her homebirth. While birth is generally normal and straight forward, as we have worked together to create a healthy mom and healthy baby, the biggest part of my job is sometimes making difficult calls and being able to manage any immediate issues with mom or baby during the birthing time. I have to be ready to think on my toes and have physical endurance. All this in the middle of the night or at odd hours. So my time outside of the office, outside of attending birth, outside of driving all over the countryside checking in on my moms and babies is spent filling my cup. I indeed have a beautiful life!
Midwifery is not for the faint of heart! But I am honored to do this work.