Panhandle Birth Center

Panhandle Birth Center Birth Center owned and operated by Sandra Elkins - TX Licensed Midwife and Certified Professional Midwife (North American Registry of Midwives).

Providing compassionate care for a supportive and empowering birth experience in the Texas Panhandle.

This too
11/21/2025

This too

11/21/2025

journey through motherhood is uniquely yours, and you deserve the confidence to embrace it fully! 🤰❤️ Remember, you shouldn't have to become a mini midwife to advocate for your choices.
Let's shatter the myths and stand united! Every woman has the right to feel safe, respected, and cherished during such a pivotal moment in her life. 💪💖
Join me in celebrating informed choices, trust, and empowerment in birth! Share your experiences and let’s uplift one another. You are powerful! 💖

11/12/2025
https://www.facebook.com/share/17GsMiwheT/
11/12/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/17GsMiwheT/

✨ It’s not always “the system.” ✨

In some birth spaces, there’s a belief that birth trauma is almost always caused by the medical system.

Yes... sometimes it contributes. But those who’ve truly listened to hundreds (or thousands) of stories know that the roots of birth trauma usually go much deeper than that.

Pam England, who has spent over 50 years listening to birth stories, identified what she called the “Seeds of Birth Trauma.” These are the places where disorientation and distress take root, long before, during, and after birth.

When Birth Story Listeners hear stories, we often find that even when interventions or medical decisions were part of the experience, what lingers isn’t just what was done, it’s how it felt and the meaning we take from that.

✨ Did I feel heard?
✨ Did I feel supported?
✨ Did I show up for myself the way I hoped I would?
✨ Did others show up for me?

One of the most common seeds is the Relationship Seed.

This grows when, after birth, we question how others responded to us, our caregivers, our partners, our support people ...... and how we believe that we turned up for ourselves, how we coped and how our body labored.

We might find ourselves wondering:
💭 “Why didn’t I speak up?”
💭 “Why didn’t they listen?”
💭 “Why didn’t my body do what I expected?”

These tender questions are often the true source of conflict, not necessarily the interventions themselves.

There are other Seeds too:
🌱 The Promises & Expectations Seed
🌱 The Overwhelming Physical Experience Seed

…and more to come in future posts.

Understanding these Seeds helps us move beyond blame — of the system or ourselves — and into healing.

If this resonates, Birth Story Medicine can help you find the peace and meaning your story has been holding all along.

📖 Book a Birth Story Medicine session and begin transforming how you feel about your birth — today. DM us.

So much history that entails misogyny, women’s rights, social class, and even medical exploration .
11/08/2025

So much history that entails misogyny, women’s rights, social class, and even medical exploration .

As hospitals became the norm for childbirth, midwifery was deliberately marginalized across much of the U.S. Physicians labeled home birth as “outdated” and unsafe, pushing obstetric care into hospitals and claiming authority over birth.

While midwives were losing legal standing in many regions, formal nurse-midwifery programs began emerging in Britain and parts of Europe — keeping the tradition alive through education and professional recognition.

In the American South, Black “granny midwives” continued to serve their communities with care, wisdom, and resilience — dramatically improving infant survival rates despite limited access to resources.

Meanwhile, hospitals introduced new medical interventions like ether, twilight sleep, and routine forceps use. Unfortunately, these early interventions often led to worse outcomes before sterile techniques and evidence-based practices were widely adopted.

Through all these changes, midwives continued to be the quiet strength behind safe, compassionate birth care — preserving the wisdom of generations even as the landscape of birth transformed.

I decided to add another free standing tub to my birth center. I like them. They are sanitary, easy to fill and empty an...
11/08/2025

I decided to add another free standing tub to my birth center. I like them. They are sanitary, easy to fill and empty and it looks great!

08/26/2025

Two posts in one day? Crazy I know, I'm a social media slacker 🤷‍♀️ But I also wanted to give a shout out to Panhandle Birth Center, because I've work with Sandra the past 2 births and she's just wonderful! Check out this beautiful little rainbow that popped up while I was at her birth center during our last session together 🌈 perfectly placed by her sign, and photo bombed by a cute little bird!

Another wonderful arrival at the Panhandle Birth Center! This remarkable family exemplified strength and beauty, and the...
08/26/2025

Another wonderful arrival at the Panhandle Birth Center! This remarkable family exemplified strength and beauty, and their newborn was absolutely stunning!
Wonderful job capturing those moments Nicole!

Right before our little family vacation and school started back up, I was blessed to be invited into another birth space! Mama was incredible, and dad was just an amazing birth partner, making sure she had anything she needed and supporting her the entire time. Congratulations to the Giesbrecht's, y'all were amazing to work with 💚

Childbirth is a monumental journey filled with both challenges and incredible rewards, and it's so important to share th...
08/16/2025

Childbirth is a monumental journey filled with both challenges and incredible rewards, and it's so important to share the truth about it. Women have been bringing life into this world for generations, and each experience is a testament to their strength and resilience. You have the knowledge and wisdom of countless women supporting you, reminding you that you are capable of overcoming any obstacle you face. Embrace your power, trust your instincts, and know that you are wonderfully made for this journey. You can do anything you set your mind to—your strength is awe-inspiring, and the world needs your unique contributions!

What if we told women the truth about birth?

We’d have to tell them that contractions will probably be more than “surges” or “sensations.”

That they’ll probably rock your world and leave you begging for salvation as you clutch the edge of the tub or the hospital linens.

That your gentle breathing exercises and your Spotify soundtrack will be left in the dust as you sweat and pant and sway and swear your way through it

That you’ll trip harder than any mushroom you ever did in college and vomit with the same ferocity and travel to places deep within yourself that you didn’t know existed.

That you’ll float above your body and simultaneously be trapped in it with an intensity you’ve never tasted.

And in that intensity,
in the sweating and the swearing
and the swaying and the vomiting
and the endless hours of contractions crashing down upon you ...

You’ll find your strength.
You’ll find a resilience you’ve never known.
You’ll find the power you need for the journey of Motherhood ahead.

In the messy humanity of it all,
you’ll find that you are holy.
A portal to the divine.
Capable of indescribable miracles.
A vessel of sacred life.

What if we told women the truth about birth?
We’d have to tell them they are capable of anything.

Worthy of being treated like goddesses.
Made to walk through the flames,
surf the tidal waves,
dive into the underworld
And come out alive.

Not unscathed.
Not unchanged.
But whole
and healed
and ready to take on the world.

If we told women the truth about birth,
we’d have to admit that we’ve lied about everything else,
and that they are more powerful,
more fierce,
more capable,
more beautiful,
than we’ve ever let on.

If we told the truth about birth?
We’d shatter the world.

Words and Art: Catie Atkinson

Address

1200 SW 15th Avenue
Amarillo, TX
79102

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 4pm
Tuesday 10am - 4pm
Wednesday 10am - 4pm
Thursday 10am - 4pm

Telephone

+18067726431

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