There once was a young girl who knew that she wanted to be involved in new life coming into this world...she didn’t know how she was to be involved, but she knew that that was her life’s calling....or so she thought.
She dived deep, at a very young age, into every book, every magazine, every article and every professional that she came into contact with that had anything to do with pregnancy and birth.
Her very first job was in an OB/GYN office, at the age of 16, where she worked as a file clerk. There, she read every chart, every lab result, every ultrasound and inquired, as many times as was tolerable, of the Doctor and Midwife in hopes to gain as much knowledge as possible. It was then that she learned of midwives and it all began to make sense, it called to her; A Midwife, with woman, is what she would be.
Shortly after she began the file clerk position, she attended the birth of her very best friend’s child. It was during her friend’s labor and birth, when she witnessed her friend lying alone on the hospital bed silently crying through contractions because she had not been educated and had no knowledge of what to expect or what tools to use. It was when interventions were introduced without her friend’s knowledge or consent that she began to realize what she was really meant to do.
Of course, attending the birth of a new babe, a new life coming into this world, is truly a gift in and of itself.
She began to realize that it was not just the babies that were the only reason that she was being called; It was the women. She felt called and compelled to hold not only the birth space, but all space for women in all seasons of their lives. Women who need the support and education to make the choices that are right for themselves, their babies and their families, whatever those choices may be, they are theirs and theirs alone when properly informed.
She learned about doulas while interning in a local hospital for 9 months and decided to attend a Doula training with the Association of Labor Assistants and Childbirth Educators and became certified as a doula in 1998 while working as a Medical Assistant in an OB/GYN office in South Florida.
She thought she had finally fulfilled her calling and served and supported women as a Doula and Childbirth Educator for 15 years but still could not ignore the calling to be a midwife, to really be WITH women in every capacity, to care for them, support them, counsel them, educate them and hold that space for them to make their own choices, participate in their own healthcare and just BE in every way that they needed to be.
Later in life, as she grew, learned and experienced, she realized that she not only wanted to support women through pregnancy, birth and postpartum but also support and counsel women regarding fertility, menstrual cycles and overall wellness as well as things that were near to her such as endometriosis, fibroids and infertility as she had experienced these things herself her entire life.
She realized that, after having many of these experiences herself, women need a support person, an educator, a counselor, a mentor, someone to hold their hand and walk them through, and just be there for them, through many of these experiences.
She realized that she was meant to be that person.
She attended midwifery school in Gainesville, Fl in 2013 and became licensed in the state of Florida in 2016 to practice midwifery.
Today, she has been married to the love of her life for 22 years, lives with her sweet puppy Lolo, and two cats, Bodhi and Shasta. She is a lover of music, creativity, writing, family and Yoga, is the host of the Women’s Health Matters Podcast and spends free time playing piano, making soap, writing, cooking and spending time outside near water and with her hubby and fur babies (real babies!).
