Natural Design Midwifery

10/17/2025

Have you ever considered how powerful your thoughts about your birth are? Last night my brother asked me to come over to talk to his wife because she was feeling very anxious about her birth. Her previous 2 babies had come preterm at 3lb and 5lb and I don’t think she had time to let fear set in since they came unexpectedly early. But this time she went 2 days past due giving her all the extra time to internalize the “what-if’s” of labor. I was honestly shocked when she admitted she was worried she was going to die in childbirth. She was worried the baby would be too big for her small frame and that she would hemorrhage. I realized that I had never really taken the time to talk through all the what-ifs with her! But there is no time like the present. We talked through her fears and how I manage complications such as shoulder dystocia, postpartum hemorrhage and so on. I went home and we continued the conversation through text until she felt safe and calm. Not coincidentally, her labor began within a few hours and her beautiful baby boy was born after just 7 minutes of pushing and without any complications 🙌🏻. This is the 10th time I’ve “midwifed” for one of my siblings (it helps that I have 8 siblings) and it is such an honor every single time. I’m so proud of my SIL for being honest about her fears and working through it with me. (Shared with permission).

09/22/2025

Moms should never be separated from their babies for asymptomatic Covid

08/28/2025

This morning’s birth 😍 Look at big sister meeting her baby brother for the first time 🥹

08/21/2025

07/09/2025

with abuela

07/02/2025

This mama labored all night with contractions coming mostly irregularly, meaning that there wasn’t a consistent pattern. She would doze in and out of that kind of labor sleep that isn’t really sleep but also isn’t fully awake (iykyk). At 6:30am I asked her “when do your other 4 kids wake up?” “Usually by 7am.” She said tiredly. “Whelp…you’ve got 30 minutes till then.” Sure enough at 6:49am this little 6 pound 4 ounce baby came flying out, straight into her mama’s hands. Just in time to soak up uninterrupted minutes…eleven minutes to be exact.

06/19/2025

Notice anything about this umbilical cord besides the word “love?”
The true knot occurs in 0.3-2.1% of pregnancies. Of those occurrences, 4-10% result in still birth. It’s almost impossible to diagnose a true knot before birth so when we see them afterward, we see a miracle ❤️

06/09/2025

Want to hear a cool birth story? I recently had a helicopter 🚁 pilot mama do a home-VBAC. With her first pregnancy she planned a birth-center birth, but that plan went side-ways and she was diagnosed with the all-too-common-“failure to progress” resulting in a primary c-section.
This time she did a deep dive into the world of TOLAC/VBAC research and carefully made her birth plan. She met with a local MFM to review the risk of uterine rupture during VBAC (0.4-0.7% chance after 1 low-transverse c-section).
However, the problem many women run into when planning a VBAC with an OB is that if spontaneous labor hasn’t happened by 39 weeks, most will have a repeat c-section or very few will be offered an induction which increases the risk of uterine rupture.
This labor began spontaneously at 40 weeks and 2 days and lasted for 11 hours total. The last few hours were intense with contractions seeming almost on top of each other. She was surrounded by her doula Liz, her photographer Kaitlyn , her husband and me. We all tried offering words of encouragement but she was adamant, “THAT DOESN’T HELP ME AT ALL.” We would just smile at each other knowing full well that SHE’S RIGHT. Nothing can REALLY help a mother in labor. She just has to do it. And that’s just what she did 💪🏻. After 19 minutes of pushing, her plump, purple baby boy came sliding out with more than a little effort from both her and me 😅. He was limp and needed some inflation breaths, but my ambu wasn’t at my fingertips (where it always has been) so I jumped straight into mouth-to-mouth-mode which surprisingly gave me a better seal than the PPV from the ambu. Three breaths was all it took to get him going…that and getting him quickly into his mama’s arms where he belongs.
In that moment I had guessed he was maybe 8 pounds since he was certainly bigger than his older brother who was 7lb at birth, but as you can see from the picture, I was shocked that he weighed 9 pounds, 10 ounces. G
The whole experience was incredible as birth always is. It never gets boring. It never gets old. Every single birth is a miracle and I’m so grateful to witness so many. 🙌🏻
📸