http://www.BornWildMidwifery.com/

Born Wild Midwifery, Petaluma, CA (2025)

07/23/2025

🌀 WISDOM OF THE MIDWIVES
“What was your path? What do you believe is the best way to train?”

From self-study and hospital hallways…
to homebirth apprenticeships and medical school detours…
to catching babies guided only by instinct and love—
midwives come to this work in countless ways.

✨ Some trained through formal midwifery schools.
✨ Others through decades of doula work and devotion.
✨ Many through apprenticeship and hands-on learning.
✨ All through deep listening—to mothers, to birth, to each other.

Midwifery is not just a credential.
It’s a calling. A weaving of experience, intuition, and knowledge passed hand to hand.

And while the routes vary, the heart of this work remains the same:
to serve birth with reverence, skill, and soul.

📚 Whether you’re a student midwife, a seasoned birthkeeper, or dreaming of starting this journey—your path matters. Keep learning. Keep listening.

📷 ambermoonphoto_co

07/22/2025

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
– Nelson Mandela

Ongoing training and hands-on practice are a vital part of what keeps home birth safe, skilled, and deeply supported. 🫀👶

Our team regularly gathers to sharpen emergency skills, run drills, and prepare for those rare moments we hope never happen—but are always ready for.

Because when you know better, you do better.
And when midwives train together, families thrive.

07/21/2025

“Somewhere on your journey,
don’t forget to turn around and enjoy the view.”
—Unknown

In the rush of labor, the whirlwind of birth, and the blur of early hours, it can be easy to miss the quiet magic.

But this—this moment right here—is the view.
Strong arms, a fresh soul, and the soft gaze of someone already in love.

Here’s to the fathers soaking it all in,
the peaceful pause after the storm,
and the reminder that the journey is beautiful—every step of the way.

07/20/2025

🌿 Honoring the Asian Tradition of the Confinement Nanny 🌿

In many East and Southeast Asian cultures, the postpartum period is treated as sacred—a time for deep healing, nourishment, and rest. Families often bring in a confinement nanny (sometimes called a “yue sao” or “pui yuet”) to care for the new mother and baby for the first 30 to 40 days after birth.

Sometimes this role is filled by a professional, and sometimes by the baby’s own mother or mother-in-law—passing down generations of postpartum wisdom and care.

👶 Their role includes:
✨ Cooking warm, medicinal foods to aid recovery
✨ Supporting breastfeeding and baby care
✨ Helping the birthing person stay warm and rest deeply
✨ Upholding cultural traditions around postpartum healing

This tradition reminds us that postpartum is not a time to “bounce back”—it’s a time to be held.

💛 Have you heard of or experienced this practice? We’d love to hear how your family or culture supports postpartum recovery.

07/19/2025

She caught her baby.
In her power. In her rhythm. Surrounded by love.
No one rushed her. No one “delivered” her baby for her.
She delivered herself into motherhood again.

This is what birth can look like when it’s undisturbed—when the room holds reverence, not control.
The joy, the strength, the shock of power—it’s all here in this moment.

✨ Yes, this birth was planned.
✨ Yes, this birth was safe.
✨ Yes, this birth was real, raw, and sacred.

This is home birth.
This is evidence of what’s possible when we trust women to do what only they can do.

07/19/2025

📰 New Evidence: Home Birth Just as Safe as Hospital for Low-Risk Women
Systematic Review & Meta-Analysis

A new meta-analysis reviewed 14 studies and over 500,000 intended home births to answer one important question:

Is home birth riskier than hospital birth for low-risk women?

📊 Here’s what they found:

✅ In well-integrated health systems (where midwives are supported and connected to hospitals):
There was no difference in perinatal or neonatal death rates between planned home births and planned hospital births—regardless of parity.

❗ In less integrated systems:
Outcomes varied and were less predictable, especially for first-time mothers.

🧠 Key takeaway:
Planned home birth is just as safe as planned hospital birth when proper systems of support are in place—and especially for women who have already given birth before.

This research pushes back against outdated fear narratives and affirms what many families and midwives already know:
Safe, supported, planned home birth is a valid and evidence-based option.

📚 Source:
“Perinatal or neonatal mortality among women who intend at the onset of labour to give birth at home compared to women of low obstetrical risk who intend to give birth in hospital: A systematic review and meta-analyses”

07/18/2025

What are the criteria for risking out a home birth client?

It’s not always about blood pressure or lab results.

While clinical indicators matter, midwives also weigh relational, emotional, and environmental factors. Here’s what often comes into consideration:

🩺 Ongoing health concerns for the woman or baby
🧠 Mental health challenges that impact safety or decision-making
🏚️ Unstable housing or an unsafe birth environment
⚠️ Hostile or unsupportive partner dynamics
📞 Missed appointments or poor communication
🚩 Requests for medicalized “hospital-at-home” care outside midwifery scope
💰 Unresolved financial agreements
💡 A mismatch in values around bodily autonomy or informed choice
🫱 A midwife’s gut feeling—because intuition is part of safe practice too

Every woman deserves her own individualized conversation and risk assessment. But midwives also need safe conditions to practice and offer respectful, responsible care.

This work is relational. Sacred.
And safety is more than a clinical checklist.

📸 This little one arrived safely, at home, surrounded by trust and reverence. Just the way it should be.

07/17/2025

Happy World Emoji Day! 🎉📱💬
Because sometimes… a single emoji says it all. 😅✨

Here’s our birthworker emoji mood board:

🤰 – Anticipation
💦 – “Was that my water?”
🔥 – Active labor
🧘 – Breathing through it
🛁 – Birth tub is life
🙌 – Baby is here!
😭 – That first cry
🫶 – Skin to skin
🌾 – Nourishing the postpartum
😴 – That first deep rest
💪 – She did that.
👣 – Welcome to the world, little one.

And us?
🩺🫶🌿📚💛 – Holding space, watching families catch their babies, and trusting the process.

Which emoji sums up your birth story or birthwork vibe today? Drop it below! ⬇️

07/16/2025

“Typical obstetric management sees the laboring woman as the problem, never the solution.
But what she can do for herself often is the answer.”
– Henci Goer

This image says it all:
A woman in her power. A baby born into peace.
No machines. No rush. No fear.
Just instinct, love, and trust.

When we stop managing birth like a crisis,
and start honoring it as a physiological, sacred unfolding—
we remember what was never broken in the first place.

✨ She was never the problem.
She is the answer.

07/15/2025

🌿 Helpful Herbal Recipes for Postpartum Healing 🌿
Supporting mamas with time-honored plant allies 💛

After-birth can be intense—cramps, colds, and the need to feel held and nourished. These herbal recipes are here to soothe and strengthen you:

✨ Herbs for After-Pains
• Corn Leaf Compress – Steep chopped corn leaves in boiling water, wrap in cloth, and apply warm to the belly for 5–10 min, 2x daily.
• Catnip Tea – One tsp dried catnip per cup of hot water. Steep & sip 3x/day (for no more than 2 days).

🌸 Mama-with-a-Cold Tea
Feeling under the weather? This blend supports immunity and milk supply.
• 🌹 Rosehips – Vitamin C + mood support
• 🍃 Red Raspberry Leaf – Uterine & milk support
• 🍀 Red Clover – Gentle detox & hormone balance
→ Steep 2 tsp dried herbs per cup of hot water as an infusion.

🌼 YOU ROCK! Mama Tea
A nourishing, mineral-rich blend to lift your spirit and soothe your nervous system.
• Chamomile
• Hibiscus
• Rose petals
• Lavender
• Rose hips
• Lemon balm
→ Make by the gallon! You deserve it.

🛡️ Infection-Fighting Tea
• Echinacea + Beth root (or use as extracts)
• Add goldenseal, thyme, or myrrh for extra support
→ And always consult your midwife or provider if infection is suspected.

🌿 Recipes shared with love from Demetria Clark 💫

07/14/2025

🎙️ Podcast Recommendation!
Triumphant Birth – Episode 18
“Home Birth with Twins? New Research Says YES”

✨ Parts 1 & 2 are now available!

In this powerful two-part episode, OB Dr. Stuart Fischbein and researcher Dr. Rixa Freeze break down the newest data on twin home births—challenging outdated hospital protocols and showing what’s truly possible when care is individualized and evidence-based.

💡 What if twin births didn’t have to mean automatic surgery or induction?
💡 What if evidence and trust were at the center of maternity care?

Whether you’re a birth worker, expecting twins, or simply passionate about birth autonomy—this is a must-listen.

🎧 Listen on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/1nU0ktSbzhp5h9ldMwzVYN?si=Zl2WZ4fvQBaAKAF3QHQ3_A

07/13/2025

Tricks of the Trade: Asynclitic Edition 💪🌀

When baby’s got their head tilted just a little off-center… we call that asynclitic. And guess what? It’s more common than we think—and often resolves beautifully with time, patience, and some creative midwife magic. ✨

🌊 Enter: Captain Morgan.
One knee up, one knee down. Toes and knee pointing OUT, torso facing forward. Add some rocking, and suddenly we’re opening up space for baby to rotate and descend. (Hands on hips optional but encouraged for full effect 😉)

Other tricks from our wise birthkeepers:

🌿 Rebozo sifting
🌿 Walcher’s position
🌿 Kali carb 200c
🌿 Moxibustion at BL 67
🌿 Side-lying, knees together/feet apart
🌿 Step climbing (two at a time!)
🌿 Hanging semi-squat, elongating that trunk
🌿 Manual rotation with maternal flipping—when baby’s ready and the moment is right.

✨ And above all else… patience.
“Asynclitic is a moment, not a sentence.” - Samantha Rouse

We carry a thousand tools in our bags and our bones. This work is intuitive, ancient, and deeply embodied.

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