My Story

 

I have  had the joy of giving birth to twelve  children!  I have been happily married to my best friend, Mark,  for 34+ years.  I began my childbirth education 31 years ago with extensive Lamaze classes.  I have had twelve very  different birth experiences and have learned something new from each one. My first ten babies were born in the hospital and the last two at home into the hands of midwives . 

 

     I first became interested in doula work 20 years ago when I had a doula at my seventh baby's birth.  The experience was so incredible that I felt the need to let women know just how powerful birth can be with the right support.  As a Christian,  I also know how often the spiritual aspect of childbirth is overlooked .  I encourage women to look to  God and ask Him for help in the birth process. 

 

    As a doula, I became certified through Doulas of North America International (DONA)  and held certification for six years. I also worked  as a Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator for 5 years teaching local group and private classes to over 400 families. I often did lactation counseling and support as part of this work. 

    During my doula work I began to feel a strong call to midwifery. After attending over a hundred births in the hospital as a doula, I knew homebirth was the style of midwifery that I was most passionate about.  I began a local  independent midwifery  study program in late  2010.  In 2012 I changed programs and enrolled in the  Bachelor of Science in Midwifery  program at Midwives College of Utah, a nationally accredited school.  Here I was challenged not only in the rigorous study of  academic knowledge about  birth  but I also attended clinical skills weeks  with experienced midwives teaching the art of midwifery. My training at Midwives College of Utah was  concurrently with a midwifery apprenticeship with two local certified nurse midwives who attended homebirths. Working with them daily for two years, I met all the requirements for the North American Registry of Midwives, and passed  both the NARM Certified Professional Midwife exam and all clinical requirements for Midwives College of Utah in December of 2015.  Upon graduation from Midwives College of Utah in May of 2016, I added  the title Certified Professional Midwife.

     My midwifery training  has included two out of country internships; one for over three weeks at a birth center in the Philippines and the other in a public hospital in the Dominican Republic. Both of these experiences allowed me to add  another 50 births to the required Certified Professional Midwife  requirement of 55 births.  I  currently  also have about 270 doula assisted births, and occasionally attend births still as a doula. I am one of the very few CPMs in the Atlanta area that has a four year degree, a Bachelor of Science  in Midwifery, as well as a Certified Professional Midwife certificate.

    I am an enthusiastic supporter of water birth, having water birthed  two of my own babies and having caught many waterbirth babies  at homebirths!

      I am certified in CPR (BLS), Neonatal Resuscitation (NRP), and Birth Emergency Skills Training(2023).   I also hold an Advanced Certificate in Fetal Heart Surveillance from the  Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses  (AWHONN 2020/2022).

     I am currently  a California Licensed Midwife and a licensed Utah Direct Entry Midwife.

     I have attended over a thousand births including working as a missionary midwife in Kenya (3 trips) and Hondruas (2 trips) with Samartian's Purse/World Medical Missions. During these trips I have worked in mission hosptials, taught at nursing schools, and provided community care to women and babies.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:17