Luna Midwifery

03/20/2026

Skills Practice: Breech Birth

Today the Luna Midwifery team met for our monthly staff meeting. We reviewed vaginal breech birth. We reviewed psychological vaginal breech birth (VBB) and manoevers that we use when an intervention is needed. We did hands on practice using Elissa’s baby doll and a cardboard pelvis that Degra and Rachel created!

Several members of our team have taken the Breech Without Borders training 1-2 times in the last several years. This training has really improved our understanding of VBB and given us valuable tools to resolve issues when babies need help to be safely born. Several members of our team have also attended VBBs in the last several years. We are so grateful for the learning opportunities and the experiences we have had.

We continue to be rooted in gratitude to the families we serve in our community. Thank you for trusting us and for inviting us into your lives and sacred spaces.

📷 Elissa Orr and Danielle Raykes

Astoria is reading material from Breech Without Borders.

03/09/2026

As midwives, we do a lot of nutritional counseling. We have found that many people do not have cooking skills, and feel intimidated about cooking. Many pregnant mamas do not meet daily recommendations for protein intake either.

So here’s a recipe for you!

This quiche is easy to make, hard to “mess up,” and each serving has 16 grams of protein.

You can make this!

You can make it for any meal! You can eat it for a snack. You can freeze it in individual portions and save it for postpartum meals. You can add any veggie or meat you like.

Everyone loves this. It’s tasty, it’s firm, it’s good hot or cold, and it’s pretty!

Degra’s Quiche Recipe
In a large bowl, mix the following ingredients. (This is the basic quiche recipe.)
10 eggs
24 ounces cottage cheese, (I use large curd whole fat)
2 1/2 cups milk (I use whole cow’s milk. I’m not sure how it would be with any plant-based milk, try that your own risk.)
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 cup shredded cheese, any kind you like (I use a blend of cheddar and mozzarella)

Add any veggies you would like. I typically add:
2 medium tomatoes, diced
3 stalks fresh Kale, stalks and leaves, cut into small pieces
1 c chopped mushrooms

The raw batter should be chunky and only slightly liquidy. See pictures for reference.

Pour into a 9x13 inch Pyrex dish.

Bake 1 hour 20 minutes.

How do you know when it’s done cooking? The top should have golden brown parts and when shakes, it should only slightly juggle. You can also poke the center with a knife, and if the knife comes out clean, then it’s done.

There are endless variations and combinations of this quiche. You always start out with the Basic Quiche Recipe, and then you can vary the veggies and meats.

Here are some other ideas:
You can also add any of the following veggies:
Scallions, chopped
Any leafy green (spinach, collards, turnip greens)
Potatoes, cooked ahead of time and chopped
Garlic, chopped
Scallions, chopped

You can add meat:
Bacon, cooked and chopped
Sausage, cooked and sliced

03/07/2026

03/02/2026

Birth Affirmation!

I am soft.
I am relaxed.
I am opening.

🌖 I am soft. I meet each wave of my labor with a steady breath and a soft body. I am not tense. I am not bracing against my body’s power. I allow the strength within me to soften my cervix. I welcome each wave and let it wash over me. I know it will pass. I know labor is a temporary time, that will bring forth my baby.

🌖 I am relaxed. My whole body is relaxed. I breathe deep peace into every corner of my body. My brow is relaxed. My jaw is relaxed. My shoulders are relaxed. My hips are relaxed. My feet are firmly planted on the floor, grounded, holding my relaxed body.

🌖 I am opening. My baby is passing easily through my pelvis. My cervix is opening with each wave. My softness and relaxation and trust in my body’s inherent wisdom all work together to bring my baby forth. My body is opening. My baby is coming. I am safe. I am supported. I am held.

Read affirmations often in pregnancy. Speak them aloud. Sing them! Share them with your birth support team, so that in the hard parts of labor, they can speak these affirmations over you. Your village can remind you of these affirmations when you are working so hard, that you forget that all is well.

You can do hard things. And it’s a lot easier to do hard things when you’re prepared. And when your village is also prepared!

Blessings upon blessings on you and your family!

📷 Degra took this photo of 🌖la luna 1 March 2026. Roanoke, VA.

02/28/2026

The Luna Midwifery team practiced resolving shoulder Dystocia at our monthly meeting this past week.

What’s a shoulder Dystocia? It’s when the baby’s head is born and the shoulders get stuck inside the mother’s body. True shoulder dystocias need intervention to help to free the baby’s shoulders so that the baby’s body can be born.

Interventions include moving the mother’s position, moving the baby’s body, and manually birthing the baby’s arms in order to create enough space for the rest of the baby to be born.

Most shoulder dystocias can be resolved within a few minutes. There is not usually long term harm to the mama or baby.

According to literature, the incidence of shoulder dystocia varies between 1% and 7%. At Luna Midwifery, we have attended shoulder dystocias, it’s one of the more common complications we see. That’s why we practice how to resolve it.

As Licensed Midwives, we are trained in how to quickly and effectively recognize and resolve shoulder dystocia. We practice these and other skills regularly as a team. This improves team communication, enforces muscle memory, and keeps our skills sharp. It helps us to be prepared to be of maximum assistance to the families we serve.

02/27/2026

Clotilda Douglas-Yakimchuk (1932-2021) was born in and practiced in Nova Scotia. Clotilda started her career during a pivotal time in Canadian midwifery, where the "professionalism" of birth work led to a greater emphasis on also having nursing credentials. In the early 1950s, she had applied to a number of nursing schools, and was denied acceptance without any feedback, presumably due to her race. She eventually triumphed as the first Black graduate of the Nova Scotia Hospital School of Nursing, and continued on to a post-graduate diploma in midwifery via Colony Hospital in Grenada. By 1988, she became the first-ever — and, to-date, only — elected Black president in the history of the Registered Nurses’ Association of Nova Scotia (now called the College of Nurses). Of this accomplishment, she noted "I would say that's quite a feat for a person who had difficulties in getting into nursing in the first place."

By the time she retired in 1994, Clotilda had become the Director of Education Services at the Cape Breton Regional Hospital in Sydney, N.S. She was instrumental in helping establish the Nursing program at Cape Breton University, from which she was awarded an honorary doctoral degree. Beyond her nursing work, Clotilda was a respected community activist. In recognition of her efforts, Clotilda received many honours, including being appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 2003 and the Order of Nova Scotia in 2018. Her legacy and dedication to social justice is carried on by her "greatest joy" — her five children.

Explore more → https://vist.ly/4sgz6

We are thankful for records of Clotilda's life collected and shared by her descendants, Cape Breton University (), the Canadian Broadcast Corporation (), and Dr. Karline Wilson-Mitchell () via the Colour of Birth project (), which is dedicated in her honour.

Base image source: CBC ()

Canada // Black History Month // Black midwives // Canadian Black midwives // midwifery // midwife // birthworker

02/26/2026

Honey!
We ask all of our clients to have honey on hand for birth. It’s a great natural quick source of energy. It’s easy for birthing mamas to take a spoonful of honey in between contractions. We offer it to mamas when they need an energy boost, especially during pushing.

This past week, our team attended 2 births, and Degra found herself needing an energy boost at 8 pm! Honey did the trick!

📷Danielle Raykes, senior student midwife (almost finished!)

02/22/2026

Book Review! Orlean Puckett, The Life of A Mountain Midwife, by Karen Cecil Smith.

I really enjoyed reading this book, knowing that I have midwifed in some of the same counties where Aunt Orlean lived and worked. She lived in the same Appalachian Mountains, where I was born and still live. She birthed and lost 24 of her own children, yet used her experience to help other women become mothers. She was a testimony of endurance, strength, and of healing by turning tragedy into beauty by being of service to the community.

Highlights from the book:
⛰️ Aunt Orlean was born in NC circa 1844.
⛰️ She married at 16 and moved with her husband, John, to VA. They lived in Patrick and Carroll counties. ⛰️ Orlean and John had 24 children, and they all died before being born, or soon thereafter, or an infancy. Their first child, Julia, lived to be seven months old, then she died from diphtheria.
⛰️ in 1889, when Orlean was about 49 years old, the community called her to be a midwife. The other midwife in the area had died, and there were no doctors or other midwives in the area.
⛰️ Orlean was likely called into Midwifery because she had birthed 24 of her own children.
⛰️ Aunt Orlean is reputed to have attended 1000 births during her 40 year career as a midwife. She is said to have never lost a mother or baby in her care.
⛰️ Aunt Orlean was beloved by her community. She took care of pregnant women and their babies, and the community in turn took care of her.
⛰️ Midwifery licenses became available in 1918, but Orlean opted to not be licensed. Therefore, she could not receive monetary payment for her work. In exchange for her midwifery services, families gave her the following: corn, beans, hog meat, fatback, cabbage, honey, dried apples, coffee, ginger, dresses, live chickens, and broom straw used to stuff mattresses. Some families were too poor to give her anything but gratitude.
⛰️ She traveled as far as 20 miles to attend births. She traveled by foot, horse, mule, or the horse and buggy of the birthing family.
(Continued in comments)

02/20/2026

Midwives = Excellent Care + VA Savings!
Virginia, let's make sure our legislators include Items 295 and 295 in the budget.

Huge thanks to Adrianna Ross, CPM, LM, our health equity intern, for creating this awesome graphic that breaks down the impact of midwives in Virginia!

02/19/2026

Client Testimonial! “Degra, Danielle, and Rachel are amazing! They have now helped deliver both of our boys at home and it’s been great! Super competent and they take their time. No appointment is ever rushed and they really care to know you! Can’t recommend them more 🙌🙏”

We have loved getting to know this family during 2 pregnancies! Repeat clients are very treasured. It’s a true blessing to witness a family grow and to be invited into the sacredness of birth. Thank you for trusting us! Xoxo

📷 Crystal Fink at Roanoke Birth and Perinatal Center.

02/16/2026

Labor prep: practice taking slow, deep breaths. We recommend 16 second counting: inhale for 4 seconds, hold for4 seconds, exhale for 8 seconds. You will feel your whole body begin to relax when breathing like this. Here’s a beautiful 1 minute 5 seconds long video to give you inspiration!

(🎥 taken by Degra on vacation at Goat Rock Beach, California, January 2026.)

02/16/2026

Studying neonatal resuscitation. 10% of all newborns require help breathing at birth. We are always prepared to help babies breathe at every birth. Some of our team members are taking Karen Strange’s Neonatal Resuscitation Program this Thursday. We re-certify in this certification every 2 years. Astoria and I have been watching many hours of online content in preparation. And today we finished the online class!