Super exciting news: Jeremy and I are getting married... in less than two weeks. He proposed back in November, on the second anniversary of our first date, which neither of us even realized at the time. Super romantic. He played Al Green's, Let's Stay Together, and got down on one knee. Yep, smooth. Admittedly, neither of us anticipated getting married again. After twenty-two years of a really tough #marriage, I was pretty darn happy single. I was fully embracing being a spin

Imbolc, also called Saint Brigid's Day, is a Gaelic traditional festival. A Celtic word, Imbolic means 'in the belly or womb.' Pronounced "IM-bulk" or "EM-bowlk," this festival is dedicated to fertility, even #midwifery, and falls on February 2nd. Imbolic celebrates the first stirrings of spring and the first sparks of new life. It's when we start to breathe life into our new wisdom and ideas cultivated through the winter and start to prepare to actualize them in our lives. I

Always interested in matters of women's health and as you know, an avid collector of antique books, I pulled A Marriage Manual off my shelves this afternoon, published in 1953. The subtitle is A Practical Guidebook to Sex and Marriage so I am eager to dig into the reality of this time. What were the expectations of women within the institute of #marriage? How much has changed? What remains the same or maybe, what wisdom might each of us gain from the older generation? This li

Many of us lose sight of things which make us really happy. As many of you can relate, there seems a clear path for most of us - go to high school, then college, get married, have kids, start a career in there somewhere, succeed and grow more and more successful at both, simultaneously, even as responsibilities at home and work grow until they are almost insurmountable. Our own passions get pushed out. I heard someone comment a few weeks ago, defending their use of video game

There really aren't many author duos that compare to Henci #Goer and Amy #Romano so this book was a safe investment, in spite it being an older publication (2012). You might remember Obstetrical Myths Verses Research Realities by Henci Goer, an excellent read, and potentially the first to illuminate the gap between conventional obstetrical management and the care model supported by the research. It was one of the first books I read on my own #midwifery journey and one of the

As a functional medicine practitioner, the #menopause transition is viewed by me as a physiologic state, much like pregnancy and puberty, and any symptomology that results in discomfort is thought of as a reflection of one's overall health and wellness. Entering these stages of life in an unhealthy state, with fatigued adrenals or gut dysbiosis for example, will certainly provide a less than optimal experience. Guiding a client back into an optimal state of being would be my

One of the more discouraging aspects of practicing #midwifery within my career, is the rising maternal #death rates. We seem to have this idea that we are among the best in the world, but the United States is in fact, the WORST in perinatal outcomes of all industrialized countries. Several third world countries report better outcomes than we have for the last two decades. One of the leading causes of material mortality is venous #thromboembolism, which has been reported by th

My mother was really into #astrology when I was a kid, so this mindset has been somewhat familiar to me. Since I can remember, I've been well aware that I am a Sagittarius with a Leo moon and a Leo rising (yes, in total, I actually have six fire signs in my house), but when I began digging into the Christian faith, I abandoned those thoughts with the understanding that astrology was about fortune reading and therefore, of the occult. Astrology is based upon the use of stars a

I’ve read a number of #midwifery related children’s books through the years, so was delighted to find author and illustrator, Christy Tyner, took a little different perspective in her whimsical rendition of #homebirth. Rather than educate the reader on the #pregnancy journey and ultimate #birth, the story instead focuses on the role of the midwife herself. It begins with the child, a young mouse, having a sleep over and true to midwifery-course, as all midwives will agree, ou