The childbearing year is the period of time of preconception and fetility, pregnancy, birth, and postpartum healing. This period of time encompasses the full specturm of experience, from seed to fruit.

Care during this time has changed over the years in the United States. Midwifery has shifted from being holistic, community-driven, and family-centered, to paternalistic and overly medicalized. But traditional midwifery didn’t die out. It went under ground, evolved without losing its spirit, and continues on in communities across the country today.

My goal is to teach, support, and guide my clients. My role is as a knowledgeable and skillful attendant who walks this journey WITH you, not leading you. This is YOUR show, not mine.

Each pregnant being and their family have their own unique needs. Some will need childbirth education, while others will want the focus to be on postpartum support. Some will need more of my time, others less. I offer the following services to prospective, pregnant, and postsrtum parents during their childbearing year:

There are so many factors that impact fertility and reproductive health. Genetics, environment, diet, lifestyle, AND mindset all play their part.

My goal is to offer a holistic exploration of the mind-body-spirit connection; to prepare your (and any partners’) whole being for conceiving and carrying a healthy pregnancy to term.

We will follow a personalized protocol that addresses all the aspects that the Holistic Health Assessment covers, but with a stronger emphasis on nourishing the reproductive and endocrine systems, as well as specific lifestyle adjustments.

I offer holistic fertility consultations for those who want an in-depth understanding of their personal fertility picture. These consultations typically last 1.5-2 hours, during which we will discuss different aspects of your diet, lifestyle, and health history in order to identify areas in need of adjustment. This is to maximize your chances of conception and encourage a healthy and successful pregnancy. You will come away from the session with a clear plan and a list of resources to support you on your journey.

Depending on your particular fertility picture, one visit may be enough, or you may need more. Typically 3 visits allow for enough time to get a full picture, assess progress, implement changes, and provide enough education that you can continue the rest of your journey on your own.

There are many important aspects of prenatal care that are lacking among many pregnancy care providers. And these aspects are essential to ensuring a healthy pregnancy and birth.

Care during pregnancy should be holistic, centering the individual as a whole being, and should be focused on prevention. In order to be prevention-centered, care needs to address adequate nutrition and lifestyle adjustments that promote optimal health and well being in the pregnant being.

Prenatal education sets you up for an empowered pregnancy, birth, and postpartum, where you are the director, and not just a spectator in your own experience. You get to know your body, its unique needs, how to support yourself, and most importantly, how to navigate the current medical system should you choose to birth within its confines.

The care I provide covers all of these bases. Prenatal care and education sessions last 1.5-2 hours, and function as mini childbirth education classes with a check-in on maternal-fetal well being toward the end. Each session is tailored to your specific needs.

How many sessions you have is entirely up to you! Expectant parents who are receiving care from a hospital-based provider may want fewer sessions, while those who are planning to birth on their own terms at home may want more support during the prenatal period.

For those wishing to birth at home, and desiring to birth on their own terms, I offer traditional birth support services that are client-guided. I offer physical support in the form of body work and nourishment, and wise council should the need arise. I do not tell you what to do, but instead offer observations, as well as encouragement. Ultimately YOU are the decision maker here! You get to design and direct your own birth experience.

Included in this fee are 3 required prenatals,* attendance and support at your birth, and one 2-hour postpartum visit.

*Prenatals are required so that we have an opportunity to get to know each other, discuss important information before you give birth, and make a plan for your birth.

Postpartum support is an essential, yet often overlooked, componemt of the childbearing year in American culture. Traditionally, mothers were cared for by their mothers, sisters, grandmothers, and other women in their family and community for a month or more following the birth of a child.

Today, women are expected to “bounce back” almost immediately. For many mothers, it is rare to be afforded the time off to recover and nourish themselves. Even if they are, they are somehow expected to do so by themselves while also navigating caring for a new baby, and oftentimes older children was well. The lack of adequate support in the postpartum period can lead to postpartum depression, problems with breastfeeding, and overall ill health.

The services I offer during postpartum recovery function as a stand-in-sister. I will prepare healthy meals* and healing teas, offer relaxing body work and restorative baths for your healing perineum, and provide assitance with some of the challenges that can accompany breastfeeding. As appropriate, I also provide belly binding and postpartum yoni steams.

If you have a willing partner or support person, I will show them ways to help care for you, and will gladly provide imstructions and recipes for foods, teas, and other remedies to support your healing journey.

You can schedule as many or as few hours as you would like. Typically my clients schedule 2 hours per day, 1-3 times per week for the first month postpartum.

*Please note: meals will be prepared in your home using your cookware ingredients.

*I strongly believe that care in the childbearing year needs to be financially accessible. For traditional birth support services, I offer flexible payment plans, can offer a discount to those who receive EBT, and am happy to consider bartering for some or all of my fee. Please do not hesitate to reach out and discuss your prenatal needs and financial concerns.

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