I’ve always been in the health care field, having trained as a chiropractic technician. When my children, Christian and Elias, were both born with the help of midwives, I knew I’d found my true calling.
Formal Training
In 1991, my husband and I packed up our two boys and moved from Charlotte, North Carolina to Texas so that I could attend Maternidad La Luz midwifery school in El Paso.
Most of the women giving birth at the midwifery school’s clinic have no medical insurance and limited or no access to medical care, yet deliver their babies without complications or the use of anesthesia. In addition to my classroom work, I cared for 30-50 pregnant women per month.
Practicing in South Carolina
I came back home to Charlotte, North Carolina with the basic knowledge and experience to attend home births. Because North Carolina does not license midwives who are not registered nurses, I have always limited my practice to women in nearby South Carolina, where my profession is legal and regulated.
While my children were still at home I kept my practice small, attending about ten births each year. As the boys grew so did my practice, experience, knowledge and wisdom. From 2009 until 2015 I owned, operated and practiced in a birth center which further advanced my experience.
Credentials, licensing and regulation
I have been licensed and regulated by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC) since 1993 and in 1998 I was nationally credentialed as a Certified Professional Midwife through the North American Registry of Midwives.