My Philosophy

I believe that birth is a normal, natural process that our bodies are magnificently designed to accomplish. Normal birth is not a medical emergency, although medical interventions can have their place. Pregnancy is not an illness that we need to be cured from, but instead is a beautiful and completely normal process.

A laboring person needs to feel safe and supported and then needs to be given ample time and space to birth their baby at their own pace. Each labor is a unique journey.

I believe that birthing people and their partners have the right to fully informed consent—to understand what is happening and what their choices are at every step of the pregnancy, labor, and postpartum experience, and then to be fully supported in the choices made.

I believe that birth is a sacred event. As one labors, she comes to a place of surrendering to the force and strength that is within her. Birth takes place not in the mind, but in the body, and one needs to let go of the need to control the process. She needs to get “out of her head” and “into her body.” In this very vulnerable and primal place, if she feels safe and supported and protected, she can discover a strength in the core of her being that she had not known before. This is a strength that carries into parenting and can transform how she sees herself as a mother. As she gives birth to her baby, she herself is born as a mother.

This is a sacred transition and my job is to protect the physical and emotional space, so that the woman can go to that place inside herself. I bear witness to and reflect back the sacred transition which has occurred, creating a family that did not exist before.

With these beliefs, I am a practical down-to-earth guide through the birthing process, creating a space of calm, peace, understanding, and honor for the birthing family.