Prospective Homebirth Clients

Final notes about how I practice, since you're probably interviewing several midwives and I keep getting asked if I am "hands on".

I firmly believe different midwives fit different mommas. That's beautiful. 

I midwife for an optimized pregnancy and coach from a place of wanting solid babies and placentas and a trusted relationship between us. Babies grown during well-nourished and low-stress pregnancies are usually 7-10lb and that's important for homebirth. You should be interested in the value of these things:  whole foods diet with good protein intake, working with chiro or pelvic PT, practicing daily diaphragmatic breathing, learning how to push well, preparing breastfeeding and getting educated on care for a newborn. 

I'm pretty focused on healthy pregnancy and making healthy babies. 

If you feel this is just a natural process that will magically unfold, and not a process dependent upon your actions, I'm not comfortable being responsible for your birth and baby. If you resist the hospital as if it's just a conspiracy theory of bad people,  then I'm not aligned with you because I am eternally grateful for nurses, OBs, pitocin, epidurals, cesareans and NICUs. 

I'm the low-risk part of your plan. I like you consider backup options also. 

I cannot and will not convince you in a consult call that homebirth is the safest option or that I can guarantee it's uncomplicated.. 

However, If you AND your partner feel the decision to homebirth is what resonates deep in your body as the right support system for your birth, if you can lean into surrender and resiliency, and if you can be vulnerable and trusting with your midwife, then I'd love you as a client!

In the consult call, I want feel inclined to want to be your midwife.

Bring questions, absolutely. Curiosity, not drilling, is the right vibe. 

Perhaps wait for consult calls until you feel excited to find your midwife. 

This is a hard profession- from hours to responsibility. 

Sometimes we are legit tired or have new boundaries we put up because of recent exhaustion. Always have grace with a midwife, whether she shows up to a consult call with low energy or impatience. We are here for the connection that starts with contracted clients

Helping you to understand the sad state of our system and the complications of insurance and finances is part of the consult call, but don't expect a free hour of this from me like other midwives may give you. I just want to connect with your truth and share mine.

I am proudly a hands-on midwife

(I'm actually not 100% sure what that means when you ask though, haha).  

I actively midwife during labor to help you make adjustments that facilitate an easier and more embodied process. 

I like to use my hands to guide babies through perineums with less tearing for mommas, and less stress for babies... but this still means you and partner can "catch." 

I'm also a "let's try this" midwife.

Let's be patient a little while to see what the body is allowing to happen, then let's try some different things that may help, then let's agree about what the end point is when we will be transferring so that we don't end up in a situation where we let time pass way too long or we didn't try everything we could. 

But my birth vibe is to be a quiet spaceholder. 

I became a midwife because I believe a baby's birth is sacred, and I don't let anyone stand or talk loudly in that space... so I'm not the midwife for people that want tons of people at the birth because then I end up as an event manager and labors get long and I really only feel called to midwife the environment of peace and sacred for souls entering this world. 

Good luck choosing, y'all!

-Midwife Crystal