12/17/2025
Four years ago today, Sage’s student midwife Samantha was 15 days away from giving birth to her precious son, born silently due to Trisomy 18. The night of Samantha’s labor, we were blessed with an angel of a Labor & Delivery nurse named Sharon. She helped ensure Sam’s stillbirth was sacred and holy. Sharon was the reason I was able to catch baby Sylvan at the hospital, fulfilling one of Sam’s birth wishes. The next morning, having tended to Sam and her family all night, we finished all the photos and keepsakes and memories we could make, said farewell, and went home to sleep and grieve. When I woke, I found a message from Sharon, who had gone out of her way to look me up and connect. From that moment on, she became part of the heart of Sage Midwifery. For all the years since, she has been our guest speaker for nearly every Centering Group and if we ever have families needing the care of the hospital where she works as Charge Nurse, she matches us with the best nurses and comes in to attend the births and make sure our families have exactly what they need. Since Sylvan’s birth, both Samantha and Sharon have stepped into the calling of midwifery and undertaken years of enormous amounts of schooling and clinicals. A few years back, Sharon blessed one of our families with her bilingual language skill set and was their translator while they were in our care. When this same family chose us again, we prayed and prayed that it would work out for Sharon to come to their homebirth with us. Today, those prayers were answered. Sharon got to attend her first homebirth, while watching Samantha flawlessly midwife in a primary role, while Amber (both the mother and Samantha’s doula, and now a student midwife) beautifully orchestrated every comfort measure and affirmation, and I quietly whispered through the whole birth…….”All because of Sylvan.”
So here we are, 15 days shy of four years later. The loss of Sylvan still brings us to our knees. And the memory of Sylvan brings purpose and connection in all we do. So, baby Sylvan, we love and miss you. And I think you were with us for this special birthday party this afternoon.
