After graduating from Humboldt State University in 1999, I spent some time traveling and living abroad. It was during that time that my heart was broken for the mistreated and unappreciated women and children in those developing nations. I came to realize that one of the most basic needs for nearly every family is quality health care. As a mere practicality, I began taking steps towards medical training. Thus began my passage into the world of midwifery. What began as a broken heart for women and children, has now become a calling and an integral part of my entire life.

I moved to Australia in 2001, to begin my training as a midwife through a private school called the Institute for the Nations. After completing an intensive year-long program, I graduated from the Birth Attendant School in 2002, as a World Health Organization (WHO) certified Birth Attendant/Midwife. I spent four months of that year studying and training with doctors, nurses and midwives in Australia, and 9 months working and carrying out my field assignment in Nigeria, West Africa. The following year, I worked in India and Nepal, staffing that same school, acting as a teacher and supervisor to the midwives-in-training. During my years overseas, I provided complete midwifery services (including prenatal care, postpartum care, suturing, and newborn care) in hospitals, clinics, and free-standing birth centers. I attended many complicated deliveries, and was trained to handle various obstetrical emergencies. When I got back to the States in 2003, I took a series of Advanced Midwifery classes taught by Jan Perrone, a locally seasoned midwife, to help me transition from birth overseas to homebirth in Humboldt County. For over two years, I worked with local doctors and midwives at the Full Circle Center for Integrative Medicine as an OB Educator, Intake Worker, and Coordinator of the California Perinatal Services Program (CPSP). I hold national and state certifications in IV Therapy, Infant, Child and Adult CPR. I am currently a Neonatal Resuscitation Provider (NRP), and an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT). I am also a member of the California Association of Midwives (CAM), and regularly attend continuing education courses and training sessions. I also hold a B.A. in Spanish from Humboldt State University.

In total, I have attended over 290 births. I have acted as the primary midwife in over 90 of those births, and served as the secondary midwife or supervisor of those remaining. About 50 of the births have been conducted locally, most of them homebirths.

While I am extremely grateful for my formal training, and recognize it to be the foundation of my midwifery skills, I feel that my own 2 pregnancies and births have taught me more about the emotional and spiritual transitions that take place during this monumental time in a family. I had both of my daughters at home with local midwives (Rowan in 2006, and Tatum in 2008), learning very quickly how to be "on the other side" of things. I experienced first-hand the questions, joys, doubts, and infinite choices expecting and new parents are faced with. Both of my births reaffirmed my confidence in the process as a whole, and instilled in me a deeper desire to see other families through these transitional times. It is still my greatest passion to see women, babies and families treated with respect, honor and love as they welcome a new life into the world.