Following college graduation, I lived and worked in Bangladesh for three years, first as a Peace Corps Volunteer and later with the Nirapad Ma (Healthy Mother) Project. It was there in a tiny bookstore that I found my introduction to midwifery: a dusty copy of Therese Blanchet’s Meanings and Rituals of Birth in Rural Bangladesh.

After returning home to central Wisconsin, I began an MS in Health Promotion at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, researching the impact of continuous labor support on birth outcomes. About a year in, my wise advisor suggested my time might be better spent pursuing the work instead. 

Not long after that, at a soup dinner in a local church basement, I met Jane and asked if she would be willing to talk with me about midwifery.  Jane welcomed me into the practice, and I trained and worked as her assistant. Then, there was a baby boy, in the winter of 2004, who had not heard I was just the assistant and chose my hands to catch him before anyone else arrived. His birth inspired me to become a Certified Professional Midwife (CPM).

In March 2006, I traveled with a small group of midwives to Mboro, Senegal, to work in a busy maternity clinic. During the month we were there, more than 70 babies were born. It was an incredible opportunity to grow as a midwife.  

With the steadfast support of Jane and my family, I obtained my CPM and LM in 2008.  In 2011, my son Ezra was born at home with Jane and Korina by my side. In 2012, I completed my Master’s degree with a focus on community health and newborn hearing screening. 2018 was a full and exciting year. I attended my 600th birth, became an IBCLC (lactation consultant), and joyfully welcomed my second son, Cass, into the world at home, again with the support of Jane and Korina.