About Me
I began working with pregnant women in 1995, when I first started teaching childbirth classes. Since that time, I have had the honor of working with nearly 700 couples in that capacity. In 2006 I started attending births as a doula, and in late 2013 began my journey towards becoming a Certified Direct-Entry Midwife. During that time, I served in a variety of positions on childbirth education boards and non-profit childbirth organizations. In 2015 I retired from all of these activities to focus solely on my apprenticeship, and in February of 2016 I was able to realize my dream of becoming a midwife. My passion lies with supporting birthing women, babies, and their families. I have six wonderful children: Celeste, Corinne, Fielding, Claudia, Scarlett, and Octavia, and am expecting my seventh child sometime in the late summer of 2016.
The Birth of Celeste Ciel
My daughter Celeste was born in April of 1994. I did not take childbirth classes, but I studied materials that my sister gave me, and I ended up switching caregivers and birth location to get what I wanted. I drove to another city to give birth in a supportive hospital with a Certified Nurse Midwife. The labor was 4 hours long, and I had none of the standard hospital interventions. She weighed 8 lb. 5 oz. and changed my life forever! It was after this birth that I decided to become a natural childbirth instructor.
The Birth of Corinne Marianna
After such a great (and short) birth experience with my first, I decided to research home birth options for my second baby. After more research, talk, and exploration of local choices, I decided on a planned, unassisted home birth. An unassisted birth generally means that only the family is present, and that there are no hired professionals at the birth. My daughter was born after 5 hours of labor in October of 1996 and weighed 8 lb. 4 oz. Everything was perfect!
The Birth of Fielding Keith
Fielding is my 1st Alaskan baby. I also chose to give birth to him at home, unassisted, in April of 1999. This was my longest labor at 17 hours (but only 2 hours of hard labor), and my smallest baby at 7 lb. 7 oz. The birth went smoothly, and both of my girls were right there to witness their baby brother's entrance into the world.
The Birth of Claudia Simone
Claudia's birth represented a couple of firsts for me: my first waterbirth, and the first time I attempted to film a birth. She beat Fielding's labor as my longest - 23 hours start to finish with 2 1/2 hours of intensity. She weighed 8 lb. 2 oz. I caught her myself, which was thrilling beyond belief! All the kids were present again. She made her grand entrance in December of 2002.
The Birth of Scarlett Rosanne
I waited a long time for little Scarlett. Making her debut in May of 2007, she was 2 weeks + 2 days past her "due date". Like her sister before her, she was born in the water and I was able to catch the entire birth on video. She weighed in at a whopping 8 lb. 12 oz. Her labor was 11 hours and very easy.
The Birth of Octavia Songe
Octavia is the eighth family member, hence her unusual name! She was born in November of 2010 after 8 1/2 hours of very easy labor. I chose to have midwives present for this birth, but I again caught her in a tub by myself. She didn't look very big, so I was quite surprised when we weighed her to find that she was 9 lb. 10 oz. - my biggest baby so far.