While I have been drawn to midwifery my entire life, I began to attend births, in various capacities in 1984 and formally apprenticed as a midwife from 1998-2002. I attended primarily home births while training with a Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM) in Iowa.  

I am actively involved with preserving the practice of traditional midwifery and have served on the Midwifery Guild Boards in both Iowa and Minnesota. I am not a doctor, actively practicing nurse, or nurse-midwife. This means that I cannot provide care in a hospital (outside of doula support) or write prescriptions. I am an unregulated, autonomous midwife by intentional choice. I carry a license in Iowa and Wisconsin where licensing is mandatory, and in Minnesota there is voluntary licensing for the practice of midwifery. I chose to not be licensed as it creates more opportunity for providing care that is uniquely individualized for each family. 

As a traditional midwife I have also offered my services internationally, volunteering in several locations in Eastern Africa countries. I have served in very rural isolated centers, to clinics located in densely populated, impoverished inner cities, to heavily populated, low economic resourced displacement camps. These experiences have truly transformed my life and how I practice midwifery. I hold deep gratitude for the families, birth keepers, and communities in this region who have taught me so much. 

I have two children who are now growing families of their own. I have deep gratitude and appreciation for the sacrifices and support my family and friends offered me as I supported regional families and answered the call of the community created midwife. Without their love and support I could not have served my community.