How my journey began

In 2016 I became pregnant with my first child. My husband and I decided a home birth was the right choice for us because we wanted minimal interventions and desired the comfort and familiarity of our own home. We hired Tiffany Dietrich at the Santa Lucia Birth Center to be our midwife. I began studying birth intensely, as I knew the more I educated myself about the birthing process, the more confident I would feel during my birth.

I took a childbirth education class with my husband and we did lots of reading. On the day I went into labor, Tiffany was off-call, so I had the pleasure of having midwives Justine Waldram of Pure Birth and Alia Clark of Kinship Midwifery attend my birth instead. I'm so thankful these two amazing women were the ones who assisted me with my birth - they were so patient, kind, and helpful.

The birth of my daughter went exactly as I had hoped. I pushed my daughter out in a water tub in my master bedroom - into the hands of my husband. I felt empowered, supported, heard, and respected throughout my labor. However, when I began to share my positive birth story, I realized very quickly that many, many people do not have good birth experiences. Many of the people I spoke with felt pressured, fearful, uninformed, and physically violated during their labor. Hearing these stories which were such a stark contrast to my experience inspired a passion in me to help other people achieve the positive birth experience they desire. I'm so thankful my journey has brought me to birthwork. It is so rewarding and humbling when a family invites me into their birth space to support them during one of the most intimate moments of their life. I hope to continue this journey for many years to come..