All The Birthy Things

Dear Reader, First, a little piece of housekeeping: If you've been loving this newsletter and want to recommend it to others, I've set up a page where they can see past newsletters to get the "flavor" and subscribe for themselves. You can also revisit old "issues" of the newsletter at this same URL. Newsetter Archive & Subscribe Form Now onto this week's "meat": As I write this newsletter, I am typically seated at my little desk in my home office, which has only windows near the ceiling...

Dear Reader, As a mother approaches the home stretch of a pregnancy, ripe and swollen, growing in physical discomfort simultaneously with her anticipation of the life she is about to bring forth, she is open in a way she seldom otherwise is. Open to deep wells of emotion and intuition. Open to the impact of the words and actions of those around her. Open to the Spirit of God hovering over the [amniotic] waters, whispering life. Those around her have a sacred responsibility to tend well to her...

Dear Reader, I was driving -- alone -- to my chiropractic appointment several days before my 6th baby ended up being born. I had some worship music playing when quite suddenly and unexpectedly I began to weep. Hot wet tears streamed down my face, probably blurring my vision (yikes) as I was awash with a fresh revelation of the love of the God for me. Me. I felt tangibly held in the comforting parental embrace of the Father whilst having Holy Spirit shivers, and a deep-in-the-bones knowing of...

Dear Reader, There's been some backlash/upheaval/controversy (call it what you will) in the birth-outside-the-system world over the last week. I'm not sure if you've caught wind of it or gotten lost in the gossip, accusations, and "exposure" of "scams". If you have not, I'm not here to suggest that you do, therefore I'm not even going to hyperlink to any of it. I am a little embarrassed to admit that I did dig in and get engrossed in it, reading the various angry/hurt/betrayed/confused...

Dear Reader, Hello! I missed the newsletter last week. It was sort of a nutty week. See, I was journeying deep into the birth labyrinth with a precious mama for about 18 hours, including one largely sleepless night. It was truly sacred and had the happiest climax and I am incredibly grateful to have been allowed to be a part of it. I wrote a bit about it in a semi-poetic form a few days later, and the mama herself (Brandy) shared the birth story from her perspective (which is the most...

Dear Reader, Alisha -- who recently completed Hearthmother Journey, and was an incredible birth attendant even before then -- had a post on her IG this week about why she serves the way she serves. You can see it here. But it was a conversation in the comments on this post that sparked the idea for this week's newsletter. One commenter wrote: Tried to explain to some friends tonight how I actually try not to catch babies. And Alisha replied, Yes! I'm literally option E. Mom, Dad, water,...

Dear Reader, If you're new here, you might not know that I was a birth photographer before I was any other thing in the "birth world." Before that I was a family photojournalist sort of photographer. The raw, unscripted, unposed stories of people's authentic lives together at home have always captivated me most, so it wasn't too much of a stretch to apply that to a birthing space, which is inherently raw, unscripted, and unposed. Except for the living on-call bit. And the complete and utter...

Hi Reader! With the end of our enrollment period for Hearthmother Journey fast approaching (3 days!!), I'm in the mode of addressing all the hang-ups, hesitations, objections, and uncertainties you may have in order to help you discern whether this is your path at this time. Toward that end, I want to point you to two longer-form pieces that might really help you out! The Open House Recording If you weren't able to attend this live, please do yourself a favor and watch it now. So many...

Dear Reader, Sometimes birth attendants miss births. Even when we're on our game, have our bags 100% packed and ready to go, have an amazingly speedy exit plan, and drive above the speed limit all the way to the birth location. This happened to me this weekend, in fact. I missed it by like 6 minutes. I heard the birth and the baby's first cry over speaker phone from my minivan on the highway. Yes, it's such a bummer. I feel disappointed at missing The Moment. I feel that disappointment mostly...

Dear Reader, I really geek out about alternative/holistic/crunchy therapies and methodoligies for improving or remedying situations. I found myself ranting happily twice in the past week, and to two different friends, about the beauty of two of my current "pet" modalities: 1) Splankna 2) Body Ready Method Yes, you should click through and read more about each of these because they really are beautiful. I was sharing with these friends about the ways I've seen them be beneficial in my own life...