about

I come from a diverse background spanning classical music, digital media, and holistic health and birth.  I grew up in rural Pennsylvania, surrounded by farmland and Amish neighbors.  My love of classical music bought me to Philadelphia in 1998 and I have been here ever since, except for a one year stint away as I followed the lure of my oboe and english horn (my first career). I married my wonderful husband, Jacob, in 2006 and we have two beautiful sons.

My path to becoming a birthworker is this:  I’ve always thrown myself fully into whatever life offers, and my pregnancy, birth, and postpartum with my first son was no exception. I read, I studied, I talked to everyone I could – and it continues to this day.  As a friend once said, “The more you know, the more you know you don’t know…”  This is an ongoing challenge for me.

For the past three years, the world of birth has been central to my life. I felt a tug towards serving childbearing women after my first son was born, and the tug became a noisy calling after the birth of my second. While receiving care from a local hospital for the first half of my first pregnancy, I happened across a midwifery practice that ended up transforming my view of pregnancy and birth forever. I cannot even describe the difference in the quality of care that we received after transferring care to this practice.  This was the root of my calling – I knew that most women would not have access to the care that I received from my midwives, but ALL women SHOULD.

I was blessed with two challenging and beautiful home births and am a strong advocate of birth as a natural process.  While I fully support home births with Certified Professional Midwives for women with uncomplicated, low risk pregnancies, I understand that this is not the norm.  I believe that ALL women, whether birthing in a hospital, birth center, or at home, have the right to feel informed and nurtured throughout pregnancy, labor and postpartum. With two children close in age, I have been breastfeeding for over two years and am passionate about the benefits of breastfeeding for both mother and baby.

I’ve received training as both a birth and postpartum doula from Birth Arts International, and in traditional midwifery skills through seminars and workshops taught by Elizabeth Davis, Carol Gautschi, Tine Greve, Lisa Goldstein, and Mary L. Cooper. I am certified in neonatal resuscitation and I’ve completed the Basic Lactation Management Training (complete course) and passed the DONA Course – Complete Exam offered by Lactation Education Resources. I’m also in the midst of becoming a certified herbalist and aromatherapist and a Level I Reiki practitioner, and am committed to ongoing education through BAI, local and regional conferences, seminars, and courses. Beyond my formal training, I bring wisdom from extensive reading, my personal birth and postpartum experiences, and from my clients.

In addition to providing pregnancy, birth and postpartum doula services to the families of Philadelphia*, I am busy working on a low allergen recipe compilation, a series of blog entries, and a downloadable resource collection, so keep checking back for updates!

*Note: My family and I relocate to southern Vermont each summer as part of my husband’s job, so I am available to birthing families in this area during the summer months. Our dates for the summer of 2010 are June 19-August 16. Please contact me for more details.