Birth Roots Community Midwifery

03/23/2026

New start time for our upcoming event with .love to offer support and healing for

Intentional community ~ somatic release ~ deep down-regulation

Tickets still available—will you join us?

Many thanks to for hosting us and to Kate Ryan for guiding us to deep release.

03/19/2026

Y’all, aging well takes work!
As a full time midwife/practice owner and most-of-the-time solo parent, I have to really carve out time for my cause I ain’t getting any younger, and I want to be at my best for the long haul.

Lately I’ve been so grateful for the boom in interest in and particularly happy to find resources that are inclusive and affirming for perimenopause folks myself

Loving these two books—Genderq***r Menopause and Eat to Thrive During Menopause, and loving how the via in Oak Park is truly kicking my ass once a week during strength classes geared toward perimenopausal and postmenopausal folks.

What is helping you thrive in your perimenopause?

03/16/2026

Yasssss!!!

03/13/2026

Hooray for and at home! 🏠 💫🥂✨

Supporting HBAC (home birth after a cesarean) is sacred. Like the muscles in the abdomen have to heal after major surgery to give birth, the layers of emotion and trauma many folks carry after a need healing.

It’s a reminder that what makes VBAC “work” isn’t just mechanical (duh, we aren’t machines) but also related to the ability to regain trust in the body and to find safety during vulnerability.

It was amazing to receive this beautiful feedback this week about a respected home birth after cesarean. We could not be luckier than being able to do this work and with the most beautiful humans. 🥺🌟💕

03/12/2026

Did you know your midwife is a ?? Yes, when I hold space for others, I sometimes have emotions…I try as a provider to bring my humanity into the room while ensuring my focus stays on my clients.

I find that is my most important tool as a midwife so I can nourish myself while being present for the amazing humans seeking my support.

5-5 breathing is my current fave — often practiced while I’m driving to/from client homes, between client visits, and honestly—while dealing with stressful parenting moments.

It’s super simple and goes fast. I often notice a tingling sensation after doing several rounds, which lets me move a lot of energy through my body mind.

Have you tried this technique? How was it for you?

03/11/2026

Together with .love Birth Roots is thrilled to be offering a gathering for next month, designed to nourish and replenish our beautiful community.

Kate Ryan, yoga instructor and director of The Story of Us, will be leading us through sound healing, somatic practice, and mindfulness as we connect with our bodies and minds.

Downregulate & Deepen is an intentional somatic gathering designed specifically for the nervous systems of birth workers. This isn’t just another networking event; it’s a nervous system reset and an opportunity for deep connection and support.

WHAT TO EXPECT:

Somatic Release: Move past the “talk” and into the body to release stored secondary trauma and burnout.
Deep Downregulation: Trauma-informed guided practices assist the shift from “high alert” to restorative peace.
Community Connection: Intentional connections deepen the essential work you do and build your support community.
Move from depletion to depth.

Sunday 26 April, 2-4pm
Hosted by in River Forest

Registration—> link in bio

03/10/2026

Midwife vs doula (as explained while I walk my dog during the golden hour!):

We aren’t the same! There’s lots of overlap, but we have fundamentally different roles on your support team.

It distills to this:

are clinicians, whereas are present for physical/emotional support, advocacy, and education.

Midwives’ practice (like that of other healthcare providers) is largely responsible for birth outcomes. We order labs, ultrasounds, and referrals; monitor your vital signs and fetal heart tones; and manage emergencies. We catch your baby or help you catch babe!

Doulas don’t have a clinical role in your support. They are there for you, independent of your midwife.

Both midwives and doulas have lots of skills and support to offer, and you may benefit from having both a midwife and a doula at your birth. Evidence strongly supports the role of doulas in lowering birthing folks’ need for an epidural, so in a home birth setting, this is one way to lower your chances of a hospital transfer.

For more, check out my new blog post on this topic!

03/07/2026

Y’all, it’s lonely to be the only out ***rmidwife serving the community here in Chicago.

I recently learned that there are five or six practicing out, q***r home birth midwives in the Twin Cities—what?! That blew my mind, since Chicago is a waaaaay bigger urban area. And it put into context how alone I feel in this world at times. (And reinforces why Birth Roots needed to be founded!)

It’s exhausting and depressing at times, but I know that I belong here. And every time someone tells me how grateful they are that I am here being ME, out and proud — it means so much to me. So I wanted to pass this sentiment along.

My dear fellow ***rbirthworkers we need you in the birth world.

We need you in the world.

We need you in this world, period.

As q***r, trans, and non-binary birth workers, we have so much love, vision, and passion. We have so much to offer.

I look forward to the time that more q***r home birth midwives will serve Chicago. And I’m so honored to serve our community and in connection with so many affirming perinatal professionals and birth workers (fellow q***r folx and allies). We are making the local birth world safer and stronger together.

If you’re a Chicago area q***r birth worker that could use some extra support these days, I see you, and I’d love to hear from you.

03/06/2026

“I didn’t know what I didn’t know”
It’s such a heartbreaking thing to hear when folks come to me for a second baby after a traumatic first birth in the hospital.

Lots of people think it’s better to be in the hospital “just in case” for a because birth is an unknown.

And I’m not trying to convince anyone to have a that doesn’t want one or isn’t medically appropriate for one. But I believe you have the right to accurate information so you can make more informed decisions.

The national rate has been around 30% for ages. It’s a bit lower, but still 1 in 4, for the group called , which we could easily compare to most first time birth-givers with Birth Roots: Nulliparous (first baby), full Term (37 weeks+), Singleton (pregnant with only one baby), Vertex (head down).

In home birth, our typical c-section rate overall is around 4.5% according to the latest data (matching mine from 2025 as well).

Of course, our client population is lower risk than the general hospital birth population, but that alone shows that a physiologic birth attended by a midwife at home can set you up with a waaaay higher chance of a vaginal or pelvic birth compared to a planned hospital birth, if you’re low risk.

And that’s not even getting into the ways that home birth can be empowering in centering YOU in your care—all the individualized care, support, education, and resources that are the hallmarks of home birth.

So if you’re wondering if home birth is ok for a first baby…it may well be! Set up your consultation to learn more!



PS I really fought to get the captions right on this reel and didn’t win…apologies, and I’m hoping to get it right next time!

02/24/2026

Take 10 minutes to complete the intake survey of the Preeclampsia Registry and add your pregnancy experience to preeclampsia research efforts. Whether you have had preeclampsia, had a loved one who experienced it, or just want to contribute your pregnancy history to improve outcomes, everyone has a role they can play to improve research by, for, and about Black and Brown moms. The vast majority of people who participate in clinical trials are white, so there simply is not enough research about how preeclampsia affects Black and Brown women, or the different way in which we experience maternal healthcare. We deserve better. The Take Ten campaign is a call-to-action to our resilient community of Black women.

Ten minutes of your time ensures that communities of color are better represented, informed, and equipped to save the lives of future Black and Brown mothers. These are our daughters, our nieces, our granddaughters, our sisters, our friends – and they deserve better pregnancy outcomes through research that supports and represents their distinct experiences.

Learn more about our Take 10 campaign here: www.preeclampsia.org/take10

02/24/2026