Though I certainly didn’t know it at the time, my journey to becoming a midwife began while serving as an intern for Urban Ministries, a faith-based

nonprofit in an underserved neighborhood of Birmingham, where one of my responsibilities was to take community members to their doctor’s appointments. It was here that I began to notice a prevailing model of care that seemed neither holistic nor patient-focused, with folks herded through appointments, often without ever being touched, rarely getting the chance to ask open-ended questions. Through these experiences I became passionate about quality health care, and began considering how I could best serve Birmingham's families in this field.

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While beginning to take prerequisites necessary for a secondary degree in nursing, I spent a year living in Flagstaff, Arizona with a Naturopathic physician and her children. It was in hearing the story of her home birth that I first learned of modern midwifery care. Now here was a model of health care I could stand behind! I was immediately drawn to the practice of being "with woman" that seemed so foreign to the community I grew up in, and as I learned

more about birth, I began to focus my efforts towards specializing in midwifery.

 

Soon after moving back to Birmingham, I completed a doula training through BirthWell Partners (find out more about their important work here), and began serving as a volunteer with their organization. Working as a doula both confirmed and transformed my calling to become a midwife. The more I worked with women in the birthing process, the more I realized this would become my life’s work. And yet, the more I served in hospitals, the more I realized I desired nothing more than to be able to serve families in their own homes! I followed the calling of midwifery to the Pacific Northwest, to obtain a Masters of Science in Midwifery degree from Bastyr University in Washington State.

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I chose Bastyr for its reputation of rigorous academics as well as its compassionate community focus, and the opportunity to receive the highest level of education for direct-entry midwives in the country. I trained at two busy joint home birth and birth center practices in Washington, under seven incredibly skilled and loving CNMs and CPMs. My experience in midwifery education was an unmatched mixture of training in the ancient art of midwifery with a foundation of evidence-based practice and family-centered care, and positive, collaborative working relationships with local physicians, hospitals, birth professionals, and alternative care providers. This is the level of care I seek to bring to the Birmingham community.

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My midwifery education was rounded out by my own first pregnancy and birth experience - the midwifery care I received and my son's birth at home empowered and enabled me to begin the journey of motherhood in confidence and in love. It was transformative for my husband and I, as birth always is.

(If you'd like to read our detailed birth story and see photos, you can take a look here.)

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When not doing midwifery-related tasks, you can find me experimenting in the kitchen, dreaming up community dinners and celebrations in my family's home, singing songs my husband wrote, laughing with my son, or exploring America the Beautiful via the open road.