Prairie Child Midwifery

07/03/2025

This cord was quite wrapped around the baby! A few hours before this photo was taken, I had unwrapped a nuchal cord x4.

Did you know: In approximately 1 in 4 births, there is a nuchal cord (umbilical cord around the neck).

But the likelihood of a quadruple nuchal cord is pretty rare: Approximately 1 in 1000!

Nuchal cords are incredibly common and rarely cause any issues. As a midwife, I can help by doing something called the somersault maneuver as a baby is born to unwrap it. Or unwrap, unwrap, unwrap, unwrap… 😅

- Michaela

06/27/2025

Andi is amazing! Check it out!

If you’ve ever considered trying reiki or energy work, now would be a lovely time for healing and helping someone else heal too.✨

05/17/2025

05/12/2025

Today, we celebrate the strength, love, and value of mothers everywhere.

As a midwife, I’ve had the privilege of walking alongside so many incredible people through the raw and real moments of pregnancy & postpartum, birth & loss, feeding & bleeding, laughter & tears, healing & becoming.

This photo takes me back to a time when I was preparing for one of the biggest transformations of my life—becoming a mother. I remember the anticipation, the unknowns, the quiet strength I didn’t even know I had yet.

Birth is not just a physical journey. It’s a spiritual one. It calls on every part of you. And every person who carries life, no matter the outcome, holds so much power & courage within.

Today, and *every day,* we must honor all who are preparing for birth, all who are recovering from & processing their journeys, all who are grieving their child or their own mother, and all who are deep in the work of parenting. You are strong. You are capable. You are truly just so, so important and deserve to hear that every day.

To my son: Thank you for making me a mother, and for all of the joy you bring into my life.

To my own mother: Thank for raising me, protecting me, loving me, believing in me, and being my best friend.

To everyone I’ve supported — past, present, and future: Thank you for entrusting me with such an important time in your life. I will fight for you, encourage you, and pour the same love my own midwives poured into me. Your work is sacred, & I am so honored to spend my life holding space for it.

Love,
Michaela
Mother & Midwife 🤍

05/03/2025

It was such an honor to meet the legendary Dr. Stu () last night during his stop in St. Louis! So grateful for the wisdom and stories shared, especially surrounding his experience in breech, twins, and VBAC. Thank you so much for making the time to visit and answer our questions!

Here are some great resources from Dr. Stu:
- The Birthing Instincts Podcast
- Reteach Breech seminars
- Breech birth at home: outcomes of 60 breech and 109 cephalic planned home and birth center births (BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth)
- Twin home birth: Outcomes of 100 sets of twins in the care of a single practitioner (PLOS One)

And a special thank you to the organizers for making this happen!

04/26/2025

03/29/2025

Attended a perinatal skills workshop at HSHS St. John’s in Springfield, IL!

Had the chance to use their simulators, + shared stories & tips between both hospital and home birth providers. This was an incredible workshop hosted by Ashley, Kathleen, & MFM Dr. Unal! They’re all doing amazing work, and building these relationships brings me so much joy.

I am always grateful for the chance to learn and connect with fellow birth workers. I could talk about this stuff all day every day… and I suppose I do! 😆

Bonus: My NRP Advanced Provider certification is renewed for another 2 years. ✨

03/19/2025

02/19/2025

A few weeks ago, I became the 11th person in the state of Illinois to become a *Licensed* Certified Professional Midwife! While I was thrilled to receive my certification and diploma, this was the moment I was waiting for. Every day that I studied, trained, and poured my energy into midwifery, I envisioned holding this license.

As many of you know, I’ve shared the long and challenging history of the fight for midwifery in Illinois. This journey has been close to my heart from the beginning. I’ve dreamed of working as a midwife in Illinois ever since I gave birth to my own child here, during a time when there were no “legal” home birth providers in my area. A time when our midwives had to risk everything to serve families, while simultaneously fighting back against the patriarchy that tried to delegitimize them. For decades, this went on. But the fight was not in vain.

The history of midwifery is ancient. Before we had the data, midwives showed up day or night for families. Before we had pharmaceuticals and surgery, midwives were experts in plant medicine and using their hands to save lives. And today, midwives are experts in blending ancestral wisdom with modern medicine, reducing unnecessary interventions and improving birth outcomes.

As wonderful as it feels to hold this piece of paper, it does not make me any more of a midwife than the women who practiced centuries before me, those who are still fighting in other states/countries, or those who practice without the confines of certification/licensure. But this paper means that we won’t need to hide. We have always been here and always will be.

To think that I can now serve the very land I ran barefoot on as a child—where my own little one now runs barefoot—is truly full circle for me.

Today, I celebrate being able to serve families without a state border holding me back. Catch me on both sides of the Mississippi, y’all! ✨

Prairie Child Midwifery St. Louis LLC
Prairie Child Midwifery Illinois PLLC

01/01/2025

This was my busiest year yet! June through August was the busiest for births and was also my final stretch of school/assessments. But I had time off from September to mid-November (minus a repeat doula client), so I had plenty of time to rest and catch up. 🙏

I also trained in 5 different states, attended births in 3 states, and traveled through 10!

I’m so grateful for every family I had the opportunity to work with in 2024. You are in my heart, always. Enjoy your sweet babies you worked so hard for! Happy New Year everyone!💖