The Call To Women's Work
Have you ever had life literally knock on your door and call you into action?  When I was 24 and living in a rented home, I got a knock on my door one day as I was packing up to move.  The woman showed up and just started talking all about what she did and who she was.  She was a midwife, a word I wasn't even totally sure I understood.  She went on talking about her job and life and I just sat there in awe, soaking it all up. 

 After she left, I was buzzing, I was sold.  I wanted it.  I wanted to do it all, work with women and be a part of the birth world.  I caught the bug, so they say, and started devouring everything I could on homebirth and midwifery care.  

I called up the woman I met and asked her meekly if I could apprentice with her.  I still knew nothing, but I did know I wanted to be a midwife.

I ended up learning from her for just a few short months before I moved to a different city.  At the time, the state I was living in didn't have "legal midwives", so it was extremely difficult to find another midwife to take me on as an apprentice.  All of the ones I found were either too far or weren't practicing anymore.  So, my dreams got put on the back burner, but it never left my heart.  

Over the next few years, I apprenticed with another Midwife for a couple of months before deciding it wasn't a great fit for either of us.  I found another Midwife who wasn't practicing, but taught me the art of taking herbs and making them into salves, balms, bath soaks, and all sorts of other goodies.

A long and windy road led me right back to the beginning many years later when I got pregnant with my first child.  I immediately knew that I would birth her at home with a midwife.  It was beautiful, it was raw, and it showed my heart WHY I want to be a midwife.  I felt so cared for when I was feeling so vulnerable.  
I felt loved and listened to and that is the gift I wish to give back to women.

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