My path to midwifery

The long version:

I am a Certified Professional Midwife and Registered Midwife in the state of Colorado. I received my license in 2009. My path to midwifery was long but direct (attending my first birth in the early 90s), and before and during my years of having babies I kept studying and moving towards the next learning opportunity.

I was gifted a copy of Ina Mae Gaskin’s Spiritual Midwifery when I was the house manager of a shelter for homeless, pregnant, Spanish-speaking women in Washington, DC in 1992. Elizabeth House welcomed pregnant people, women and families to stay for 3 to 6 months around the birth of their baby so that they would have a stable place to live for the huge transition in their lives. As house manager, I worked closely with the residents acting as quasi-social worker, housekeeper, labor coach, breastfeeding support and general support. That experience confirmed to me that support is the single-most important key to making a successful transition to parenting. It also set me well on my way to becoming a midwife.

In 1996, I enrolled at Maternidad La Luz, a birth center in El Paso, TX as a student and apprentice. The six and a half month program provided me with a tremendous amount of hands-on experience as well as extensive didactic study. I attended 67 births while there and caught 18 babies as the primary attendant under supervision.

After that, I developed my skills in several areas that support my midwifery practice. I worked briefly as a labor support and postpartum doula. I completed the Foundation Training with Ray Castellino in Santa Barbara on Pre and Perinatal Psychology, a two-year program for working with birth-related imprints (www.Castellinotraining.com). I also become a Craniosacral Therapist, studying with Anna and John Chitty in Boulder (www.energy school.com). I feel that Craniosacral Therapy is an amazing compliment to midwifery and a gentle support for all.

I had my first daughter in April of 1999 by cesarean at University Hospital in Denver. I had been working with a Homebirth midwife through the pregnancy and transferred care because of complications that arose during labor. While the birth was not at all what I had hoped for, I was gifted a tremendous learning in how much I was not in control of the process. To say it was a profoundly humbling experience is an understatement.

In January of 2004 I had my second daughter at home. It was a huge gift to be able to have her in my my own space and to be able to push her out myself. I had a four-hour labor and spent most of that time in the birth tub. The most precious part for me was after she was born when she slowly crept up my belly with the support and encouragement of her father and older sister. The process of her breast crawl and self-attachment is a huge resource for me.

During my second pregnancy I apprenticed with Jan Lapetino and Dana Beardshear and their Homebirth practice in Denver. After my second daughter was 1 and 1/2 years old, I began working with Jennifer Braun in Boulder and trained with her for 4 years. She was the primary supervising midwife during my internship, while Jennifer Dossett and Jan Lapetino also provided supervision.

I completed my internship just weeks before the birth of my third daughter. She was born in April of 2008. This birth was another huge gift. She was born at home after a seven-hour labor. I was surrounded by my husband and daughters, some dear friends and two midwives whom I love and trust tremendously. It was so lovely to witness her journey into being with us and support her to wiggle up my belly and find her way to the breast.

I sat for the NARM exam in August of 2009.

I had a small Homebirth practice in the Roaring Fork Valley, serving from Parachute to Gypsum and south to Aspen for 2 years from fall of 2011 to summer of 2013. I lived in Maui August of 2013 to June 2014 and then moved back to Boulder, opening a practice here in August of 2014.

I provide home birth services within a 45 minutes drive of Boulder. All prenatal appointments are done in the office.

Let’s get together!