Pacific Midwifery

02/09/2025

Last peep. Food for thought. ✌️

02/03/2025

BIG NEWS: This account is going away! Shutting down 2/10/25. Please watch and listen. AND…oh my gosh….I DO NOT speak Instagram. It’s taken way too many tries to get these videos up 😂 (Thanks to my son for helping me!) Thank you so much for being in this space with me over the years. Thank you for trusting me and letting me be in your days and lives. It has been the honor of my life. May you create kindness in your wake and hold vulnerable neighbors with the utmost care. May humanity, love, and generosity of spirit carry the day.

01/30/2025

BIG NEWS: This account is going away. Thank you for sharing this space with me. Thank you for letting me in your days.

10/29/2024

Vote, Y’all. 🇺🇸✌️

10/26/2024

I’m still alive. Barely. 😂 being kept alive on what I believe to be the world’s best coffee (), walks listening to lectures, and so so so many hours at the desk. Part of the program requires us to get involved in politics happening around us. So I’ve been to candidates’ forums, meet and greets, I’ve phone banked, and — like usual — I’ll work the election in a a couple weeks. (Voting is my love language, y’all). Most weeks I have more reading than it seems possible to complete. My brain feels like it might explode. And yet….it hasn’t yet. I’m well underway on my project that I’ll complete next spring — drafting legislation related to midwifery. Still thinking of you all each day, drawing strength from memories of you. 💜

09/09/2024

Okay, people. WOW. R E A D I N G. Hardcore. I’ve made it through week three! I have written my first legal analysis (not great, I admit), am continuing to narrow down a topic for my big project, and have had to call one of my sons to help me understand my quantitative research homework. 🤦🏻‍♀️ Even got to meet Sen Barbara Boxer at an event on women and the law. Speaking of…I learned this week that courts have held the Constitution does not protect a woman’s right to determine where and with whom to birth. No right to privacy on that one, friends. We have work to do. Friendly reminder, if you’ve made it this far, check your voter registration. Vote, vote, vote. Okay. Off to read. 😂 PS Yes, the cats are pretty over me paying attention to books and not them.

08/26/2024

Week one done. Not gonna lie…I cried on Tuesday. Felt overwhelmed by the work and the content and the learning. SO MUCH READING. But, I’ve learned just to take the next right indicated action, rest when I can, and give over to the process. (Sound familiar?) This past week, we learned about concepts of social constructionism and dove deep into definitions about health, illness, cost, healthcare. I had to update my writing style from chart-note short to expository long. I learned from last week to tackle reading early and often, so this morning, I got to sit with the pups and read all about a case involving a midwife and her scope of practice. I’ve also learned the sheer necessity of leaving the house and venturing out on walks and hikes. And the therapeutic value of a Friday croissant at my local coffee shop. ‘Til next week, friends. 💜

10/10/2022

Such a good video as an introduction to hand expression.

"The Basics of Breast massage and Hand Expression" video by Maya Bolman, IBCLC and Ann Witt, MD, FABM, IBCLC

08/13/2022

In what appears to be a lucky day for me, I got to spend all day with today ON HER BIRTHDAY! Anyone who knows her, knows that she is everything that makes days worthwhile. I know no one else who works as hard, who cares as much, who sacrifices more, who extends kindness more genuinely. These pictures here are only part of what makes her special, but they are the part I get to see the most. At the end of a long day, she took the time in a gentle way to walk these siblings through a newborn exam and a placenta tour. I can never thank Luli’s mom and dad enough for falling in love and making an extraordinary daughter. And. thank you, Luli, for sharing your gifts with me and all the PM families. Happy Birthday, Luli. Love you so much! (And happy birthday to one of the newest humans on the planet!).

07/13/2022

This is a feel good watch. Midwifery makes an appearance on Capitol Hill. If you are looking for an action item — please stay tuned. All it requires of you is to contact your representative and request they co-sponsor the MOMS and BABIES Acts. I’ll get better details for you in a bit. Check back. But watch this hearing. We need a more representative midwifery workforce. We don’t just need MORE midwives. We need a midwifery workforce that is diverse and robust. We have a LONG way to go. But we can get there.

03/17/2022

From Karolina Ochoa:
As some of you may know, I was born and raised in Cracow - a city in Poland where most of the mothers & children from Ukraine are seeking shelter.
80,000 Ukrainian women are expected to give birth in the next three months in Poland. Many of them will need postpartum support.
Together with my colleague Anna Kotlińska, who is an IBCLC, Certified Nurse Midwife & Myofunctional Therapist practicing in Cracow, we are gathering funds to cover Lactation and Postpartum visits for the Ukrainian Refugee mothers in Cracow.
Each visit that Anna provides costs $61. Any donation helps us tremendously and we will keep posting updates as we go. 100% of the funds will be spent on Lactation & Postpartum visits.
Thank you for your generosity!
Anna’s IBLCE # is L-301980
Anna is a Board Certified Lactation Consultant, Certified Nurse Midwife & Myofunctional Therapist

Thank you for being here! My name is Karolina Ochoa, I’m a Lactation Consul… Karolina Ochoa needs your support for Support for Lactation Consultants in POLAND

01/01/2022

This has been, undoubtedly, the most challenging & the most rewarding of my midwifery career. As I reflect on this year what stands out is not the what you might expect. I am not filled with visions of triumphant home births & babies sliding out in the water pink & happy, even though that happened quite regularly. My mind & my heart are filled with the visions of the families I got to work with this year - so many of them that faced unexpected and often devastating & heartbreaking challenges. I’m thinking of the people who trusted us to care for them even when their conditions & their constitutions meant we offered co-care with hospital birth in mind. I’m thinking of how many of our parents struggled to maintain mental & emotional wellness this year. I’m thinking about those who suffered great losses and those who faced adversity — perhaps with a quivering lip & tears in their eyes, but stalwart & courageous nonetheless. I’m thinking of the brave & selfless people who’ve chosen to become parents in spite of their own painful & difficult childhoods; I’m in awe that they chose hope & growth & wonder. I feel so fortunate to be in a place in my life & my work in midwifery that I welcome the messiness. I applaud the undoneness. I marvel at the evolution of the human spirit as I witness deep transformation & reckoning. I will be forever thankful that our clients felt safe enough to trust this part of their lives to our care. I’m forever thankful I’ve had two incredible women by my side to show up, bear witness, lay hands on. This is a powerful time - you can feel how we are transforming, growing strong in the face of sorrow & disappointment. We are refining our inner lives to weather the outer storms. & the part that carries us through, for me, is the togetherness. So thank you for being together with me this year. Thank you for showing up to our Come As You Are Party. Thank you for sharing your uncovering & discovering with me. Thank you for sharing the ways you’ve found to discard those old messages & ideas to make space for the lives you desperately want. Thank you for a brave and bold year. You all just mean the world to me. Let’s hold each other tight in 2022.