“When a woman gives birth, she has to reach down inside herself and give more than she thought she had. The limits of her existence are stretched. There is a moment when every woman thinks, “I can’t do this.” If she is lucky, she has a midwife, a doula or her mom to whisper in her ear, “You are doing it.” As she does it, she becomes someone new: a mother.” – Pam Udy
Meet Rachel
It is in becoming a mother myself that I have come to understand the blessing and burden that are bound up in the calling of motherhood, and how they beautifully intertwine. There is both life and loss on this road for us all (to some degree or another), beauty and pain juxtaposed. My own winding journey has taught me to hold space for others, and the value in walking side-by-side.
“Giving birth should be your greatest achievement, not your greatest fear.” – Jane Weideman
More of my story
I am married to a wonderful man and am a homeschooling mom to 3 precious children. We live on an imperfect hobby homestead, along with chickens and rabbits and a cat or two. When I’m not home with my kiddos, you might find me at a local coffee shop studying, at a birth assisting my local homebirth midwife, or at our church serving the children’s ministry.
My older two were born into the hands of midwives in a hospital setting. While I’m grateful for those deliveries and what they taught me, it just always felt like they were lacking. It wasn’t until I had my third at home, attended by an incredibly skilled and compassionate midwife, that I fully understood what I felt was missing from my first two births.
That experience of giving birth on my terms has become the heartbeat of how I care for others. My job is to empower families to create peaceful, respectful spaces that they are proud to have written into their stories. I am humbled and feel incredibly privileged to walk alongside them.