Harmony Health and Home Birth - Southern Illinois

12/25/2025

There is no place like home for the holidays—and there is no place like home for a beginning. 🕯️✨
​As we celebrate the ultimate 'home birth' story, our hearts are full of gratitude for the families who invited us into their sacred spaces. To the mothers who labored by the glow of the Christmas tree, and the babies currently experiencing their first magical season: you are the heart of what we do.
​Wishing you a peaceful Christmas from our home to yours. 🕊️

12/04/2025

Big news today for Harmony!

In 2021, Harmony was started with so much love and the idea of wanting women in IL to be able to birth the way they wanted, in the comfort of their own homes. Local, more rural hospitals were closing their labor units left and right and it just wasn't fair or right to force women to travel an hour plus to receive care within a hospital system when they could barely make it there to birth in the first place.

In mid 2023, our family felt called away from the area. It was a super hard decision to make, but that decision was made easier after I had met Kacey. She had recently been laid off from her long time position as a hospital based CNM and a friend suggested we get together to talk about options. Once we met, it was an obvious solution! Kacey stepped in as lead midwife, keeping Meghan at her side as a consistent primary birth assistant and secondary midwife. We continued to run operations from afar but slowly turned over more and more responsibility to Kacey over the past two years.

Today, Kacey takes over as business owner. Most of you already know her well, but for those of you who don't, I have no doubt she will do a fantastic job. She's an amazing midwife and she already knows all of the ins and outs of Harmony and what she doesn't know is easily teachable. Plus, we're just a quick phone call away!

For our current clients, please know operations will run pretty seamlessly and you shouldn't notice much of anything at all during this transition. Kacey will be your go to person for all things. :-)

And just for fun and to bring it full circle, here's a pic of us together doing what we love at Kacey's first home birth. That was definitely one for the books!

With so much love and unending support,

Maggie Petry

11/13/2025

Did you know that your baby’s position can influence how labor unfolds?

In childbirth education classes, we go beyond birth prep, we explore how movement, balance, and relaxation can gently guide your baby into an optimal position, supporting a smoother, more efficient birth experience.

These are simple, evidence-based, and holistic techniques you can start practicing long before labor begins. 🌿

If you’re ready to feel more confident, aligned, and connected as you prepare for birth, join childbirth class. Let’s work together to create space for both your baby and your body to move in harmony.

08/08/2025

As this week comes to a close, we celebrate all of the feeding milestones with you. Breastfeeding can be tough, but so you are!

World Breastfeeding Week 2025 is coming to a close, and because of that--I wanted to leave you with this

Breastfeeding isn’t just about calories and nutrients—it’s a deeply rooted biological and emotional relationship that nourishes far beyond the body. Your baby quite literally does not understand that they are a separate person from Mom!
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-It regulates baby's nervous system
-Supports bonding through the hormone Oxytocin
-Calms and soothes both baby and mom
-Encourages healthy oral and facial development
-Offers a safe space for connection, warmth, grounding, and presence
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From the rhythmic suckling to the warmth of skin-to-skin contact, breastfeeding is a whole-body, whole-heart experience—a dance of hormones, intuition, and connection.
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Even if only for a moment, each feeding is a sacred pause in our busy world. A reminder that being held, seen, and loved is as vital as being fed. 💗

06/30/2025

Come on out to chat all things birth on July 18th or to meet and greet some birth workers! We'll be there and look forward to seeing you!!

06/17/2025

Ya'll this is so needed!! Shelby is a mental health therapist who is located in the Harmony office and Becca is an amazing pelvic floor therapist and friend we refer to. Together, they're putting together this amazing program for postpartum mamas to connect and share in the journey together. You don't want to miss it! We're not made to do this alone. Shelby Callahan Becca Meredith

MAMA CONNECT: A Support Group for Moms in the Thick of It

Calling all moms who are craving connection, validation, and space to just be…

✨ Mama Connect is a free, in-person support group centered around real talk, community, and the deep transformation of becoming of a mother.

🫶 Whether you’re postpartum, newly navigating motherhood, or just feeling the weight of it all—you are welcome here.

We’ll talk. We’ll exhale. We’ll remind each other we’re not alone.

📍FREE to attend — just a few spots left!
Enlightened Pelvic Health in Maryville
June 29th from 12-2pm
Hosted by Becca Meredith, pelvic floor therapist + yoga teacher

DM to grab your spot or email Becca@enlightenedpelvichealth.com 💌

’FallonMoms

05/06/2025

The word Midwife means so many things. And like so many careers, there isn't one task that makes a midwife's job stand out from another. You have to have the mundane parts to have the extraordinary parts. What most people think of is the front facing, glamorous parts of the job. What they don't see? All of the hours and hours on the back end that go into advocating for women and helping provide the best care out there. Charting, sending faxes, dealing with insurance, answering phone calls, all the on call hours, having free consultations so clients can choose the midwife who best fits their needs. Education, continuous CEUs, collaborating with physicians, chiropractors, pediatricians, sending referrals, sending labs and analyzing those labs.

So many parts of the day to day job that go without a thanks. But it's all worth it. Being a midwife is about the outcome. Doing what's best for the woman and for the family. Serving mom and serving baby. Carefully watching, looking out for both, being ready. Reading the cues. Reading the room. It's not a one size fits all job. There are so many midwife personalities out there and so many practice styles.

Here at Harmony, we are so thankful to have some of the best midwives out there. We brag on them day in and day out. Happy International Midwive's Day, Brent N Kacey, Meghan Lenz Mercado, and Maggie Petry. We are so thankful for you!

Harmony fams- have a fave pic or memory you want to share? Please share it below!

07/04/2024

Happy Independence Day! Wishing you a wonderful day of celebrations, friendship, time with family, and freedom.

05/28/2024

Come hang out with some of your natural minded friends and cuddle some goats, too!

05/12/2024

Sending love and holding dear ALL of the Mother's out there. Because being a mom comes in a whole variety of forms. 💕

We especially wish our wonderful Harmony moms a Happy Mother's Day. You all are fantastic at what you do to keep those kiddos safe and loved- prior to pregnancy, during pregnancy, and beyond.

05/05/2024

Today is International Day of the Midwife and we are blessed with some of the best!

Share a love note, picture, or funny story below of a midwife you love! 💕