Hi, welcome to East Tennessee Birth Services.
Mission Statement
I believe that most women can have a satisfying, safer birth, by following the Midwifery Model of Care, and I would like to help you achieve the birth of your dreams.
Education is key to a satisfying, safe birth, no matter where it occurs.I aim to teach women to respect themselves, thier bodies and thier babies.
Many women prefer the comfort and safety of their own homes and should have a choice of birth provider.
This lack of availability is not sane, or safe. One should be able to have access to midwives and the Midwifery Model of Care no matter where or with whom one chooses to give birth, whether it be home, birth center, or hospital, or out in the woods or on the beach!
I believe most women are not given enough credit for their instincts and native intelligence, to make their births the best they can be.
Many women are railroaded and manipulated into operational deliveries that could have been avoided if a doula or midwife were present, and if the woman spent most of her labor at home. There is a huge profit motivation toward 100% epidurals and cesareans, and many of these operations needlessly expose the mother and baby to far higher sickness and death risks than homebirth. Some hospitals in Virginia have a 50% cesarean rate!
Qualifications
I am a Certified Professional Midwife Candidate,Midwife Assistant and Doula. I am ALACE trained, although I haven't certified with them yet.I have taught childbirth classes for the Roanoke Valley Red Cross, the Roanoke Valley Crisis Pregnancy Center, Community Hospital of Roanoke Valley(now Carillion) and one on one. I have been working with pregnant ladies since 1983, and have done a seven week internship at Casa de Nacimiento, in El Paso,TX, and completed studying Midwifery Assistance with The Farm Midwives in Summertown, Tennessee, toward my Certified Professional Midwife designation. I have had one hospital birth, one homebirth with midwives and one planned unassisted homebirth.
I have attended over 60 births, most out-of-hospital, and have been primary caregiver for 14 women at Casa, and 7 at home.
I am familiar with early pregnancy loss, and have had a couple of doula clients with multiple births. I am comfortable working with single mothers and am also CPR and NRP certified.
I work in a variety of settings, but home is where my heart is. I can prepare parents for wherever the birth will occur.
Most of my doula clients have had their babies in hospital, but I have attended a few homebirths so far (as a doula), and after I obtain CPM credentials and Tennessee licensure, I would like to offer homebirth services in our area. I can also teach a couple how to prepare for an unassisted birth. It is legal, and even if someone were silly enough to try to regulate it, there is no way to control it, since babies come when they want to, and not always when we think they should!
I have an extensive Childbirth Library,and some videos that I am willing to lend to help clients learn, or can do public speaking and presentations.
I can teach childbirth classes at the clients' home, my home, or a public place, wherever the mutual convenience and comfort rests. For price information, please call.
To reach me you can email me, or call: