I am a traditional, apprentice-trained homebirth midwife.
I have been fascinated by the birthing process for as long as I can remember. I grew up in a time when no one questioned their birthing experience or discussed it. As a little girl, I dreamed up ways to see myself giving birth, never imagining I could remain conscious for the event. At this time, doctors routinely put women to sleep for delivery. My mother read “Childbirth Without Fear” by Grantly Dick-Read when she was pregnant with my sister, and I read it as a child. Later, I read the “Womanly Art of Breastfeeding” in high school and decided I would nurse my babies because it was the only logical thing to do.
I graduated from the University of Evansville with a BA in my dueling passions of English and Biology, but I had not yet found my calling. I became involved with La Leche League as a young mother and, through them, began birth activism. When I attended the homebirth of a friend, I realized I wanted to work with women one-on-one rather than fight the glacially slow-to-change hospital establishment.
Soon after, I met a homebirth midwife, and when I started assisting her, my life was forever changed. I drove all over central and southern Indiana to homebirths. That was in the 1980s, and I have now been attending births for over thirty years, and have caught over 3,000 babies.
I was the first midwife in Indiana to become a Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) in 1997. A Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) is an independent practitioner who has met the national standards for certification set by the North American Registry of Midwives (NARM) and is qualified to provide the Midwifery Model of Care. The NARM certification process recognizes multiple routes of entry into midwifery and includes verification of knowledge and skills and successfully completing both a Written Examination and Skills Assessment.
The CPM credential is the only credential that requires midwife training in out-of-hospital settings. It is the only credential in the United States specifically for homebirth practitioners. In addition, CPMs must participate in continuing education, peer review, and re-certification.
I was a founding member of the Indiana Midwifery Taskforce, which worked for midwifery legislation beginning in 1993. We were ultimately successful, and Indiana commenced licensure of midwives in early 2018. As a result, I became a Certified Direct Entry Midwife (CDEM) in February 2018, granting me a midwifery license.
I am an outspoken advocate of midwifery professionalism and competency. As part of my continuing education, I did an intensive program at Victoria Jubilee Maternity Hospital in Kingston, Jamaica, where I caught 110 babies. I also have taught midwifery workshops around the country on posterior labors, placentas, hemorrhage, and birth assisting.
I maintain certification in the Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP) and Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR). In addition, I participate in continuing education credits and peer review.
I am a member and support Indiana Midwives Association.
I have three daughters, and eight of my ten grandchildren were born at home.
Please feel free to email me with questions.
Narm https://narm.org/about/
NRP https://www.aap.org/en/learning/neonatal-resuscitation-program/
IMA https://www.indianamidwives.org/