So I hit the ground running as I often do and will be opening a full service, free-standing, birth center in Harrisonburg this summer. I am ecstatic about this endeavor and so thankful for all of the wonderful friends and family that have been supporting me along the way. Thank you!
I have leased a 2100sq ft space about a tenth of a mile from the new RMH campus. The building is practically brand new and as I am the first business to set up shop I have a blank canvas to work with. I hired a wonderful designer, Sabrina Frey and a very helpful and professional contractor, Nathan Janocka. The build out will begin in June and be finished up mid-August. I have some 3D renditions on the website to give potential clients an idea of what the center will look like once finished. Of course a computer program cannot show the fine details of what the finished product will be so I encourage families to schedule a tour as soon as we are open for business. We are spending a great deal of time on the details to ensure that our center provides all of the amenities of a spa birth with all of the safety measures possible in an out-of-hospital facility.
The birthing suites will have large bubble massage tubs, birthing hammocks, birth balls, and custom made birth stools. (I am getting a local Mennonite guy to make my stools!) They will both have a fireplace, private bath, and comfy furniture. The center also has a complete kitchen that birthing families will have full access to. This is top of the line birth people! Makes me want to have another baby just so I can use my own business services. : )
Our website is still under construction but its pretty close to being done, check it out.
Brookhavenbirth.com
I will post updates on our progress when able.
I'm official!
On Friday March 5th 2010 I received my pass letter from NARM! I am officially an internationally recognized Certified Professional Midwife. My application for my Virginia license has been submitted and should go through in the next week or two. I am so excited to start taking on homebirth clients of my own throughout Virginia.
Four months to study!
Wow, the last two months flew by and suddenly its fall. I did reach my goal of finishing my clinical work and turning in my PEP (Portfolio Evaluation Process) application to NARM(North American Registry of Midwives) on Sept 10th. okay well actually I overnighted it on Sept 12th but I had gotten that pre-approved through NARM the week before. I had to turn it in late as I realized a few days before it needed to be in that I still needed 5 notarized forms from 4 different midwives that all lived more than an hour away. And just to make me sweat a little, two of them were at a birth for 3 days precisely when I needed them to be signing the forms! Yep, when pregnant women are involved one never really knows what might happen.
My next close call came when I headed to West Virginia to pick up my final form from my dear friend, Ruth Ann Colby Martin, CPM, LM. She was doing this Women Helping Women Retreat for the second year in a row and I was planning on getting the form, sending it out overnight, and then relaxing with a large group of like minded women and a bunch of bottles of WV wine. It was a perfect plan...until I get to the post office in teeny tiny Circleville WV. The ladies at the post office had never overnighted mail before (don't people in WV do last minute important things too?) and so they were calling other employees, digging through drawers and boxes looking for forms, delivery schedules etc. 40 minutes later they declare that there is no overnighting available in WV-or at least this part of it. They are too rural they say, but they can get it there by Tuesday. No way-its Saturday and I got special permission to turn it in by Monday. I plead with them-"Can I pay extra? I'll pay extra." "Well...there is this one thing" they can do. I can pay a bunch more for a Sunday delivery. "Great, I'll do it." Papers shuffle, they dig. "Oh sorry can't do that from here either. Lets just send it "overnight" but it wont actually get there til Tuesday." "What no ahhhh, this is terrible." I thought about traveling back to VA for a post office, but that seemed crazy. I just say do whatever you can and hopefully NARM will forgive me. Well guess what. They cannot even find the right kind of label! More calls, more digging. They end up sending me to the next little town in WV and have me send it from that post office because they do have the label. I get there (not too far of a drive thankfully) and the lady is looking at a checklist to tell her "how" to send something overnight. Come on I think, you work here. You don't know how to send out a package! I help her read it as she seems pretty confused. She checks the wrong box, I correct her. She apologizes. She has never sent overnight either, well except that one time a year ago, but after they finished it all the man returned an hour later and wanted his money back and just sent it the "regular way".
Sheesh! Well it did get sent, finally. And it only took like two hours!
Moral of the story: WV is good for wine and retreats but there are very few necessities such as working mail systems, or Starbucks, therefore prepare before you make the journey and never assume you can do something there the way you would in the rest of the country.
Anyhow the retreat was a blast and I am very excited to be done with that chapter of this journey.
Last time I posted I had mentioned Peggy Franklin the wonderful midwife that I have been working with the past few months. She is an amazing preceptor, full of knowledge, extremely giving and humble, and easy to talk to and always willing to help people. I have learned so much from her in the past three months. I believe working with her has been the perfect ending for my apprenticeship. I feel so balanced now. I have attended 7 births, approx. 100 prenatals and postpartums, and have had many enlightening conversations. I plan on continuing to travel to her place twice a month and go to births here and there until she kicks me out of the practice, or I get so busy here in Harrisonburg that I cannot possibly balance it all. Ha ha ha.
So now my focus is drumming up business and studying for the very scary NARM exam! Being an apprentice involved LOTS of driving and very little pay. I have been living very humbly for a few years now and this entire summer in particular and now the bank account is literally EMPTY. Like I have no clue how I am feeding my kids next week. So if your pregnant or know someone who is I can help you out or, more likely, help your kid OUT OF YOU! Give me a call and spread the word. : ) And wish me luck as I read, take notes, and worry about my exam for the next four months!
Bye.
My next close call came when I headed to West Virginia to pick up my final form from my dear friend, Ruth Ann Colby Martin, CPM, LM. She was doing this Women Helping Women Retreat for the second year in a row and I was planning on getting the form, sending it out overnight, and then relaxing with a large group of like minded women and a bunch of bottles of WV wine. It was a perfect plan...until I get to the post office in teeny tiny Circleville WV. The ladies at the post office had never overnighted mail before (don't people in WV do last minute important things too?) and so they were calling other employees, digging through drawers and boxes looking for forms, delivery schedules etc. 40 minutes later they declare that there is no overnighting available in WV-or at least this part of it. They are too rural they say, but they can get it there by Tuesday. No way-its Saturday and I got special permission to turn it in by Monday. I plead with them-"Can I pay extra? I'll pay extra." "Well...there is this one thing" they can do. I can pay a bunch more for a Sunday delivery. "Great, I'll do it." Papers shuffle, they dig. "Oh sorry can't do that from here either. Lets just send it "overnight" but it wont actually get there til Tuesday." "What no ahhhh, this is terrible." I thought about traveling back to VA for a post office, but that seemed crazy. I just say do whatever you can and hopefully NARM will forgive me. Well guess what. They cannot even find the right kind of label! More calls, more digging. They end up sending me to the next little town in WV and have me send it from that post office because they do have the label. I get there (not too far of a drive thankfully) and the lady is looking at a checklist to tell her "how" to send something overnight. Come on I think, you work here. You don't know how to send out a package! I help her read it as she seems pretty confused. She checks the wrong box, I correct her. She apologizes. She has never sent overnight either, well except that one time a year ago, but after they finished it all the man returned an hour later and wanted his money back and just sent it the "regular way".
Sheesh! Well it did get sent, finally. And it only took like two hours!
Moral of the story: WV is good for wine and retreats but there are very few necessities such as working mail systems, or Starbucks, therefore prepare before you make the journey and never assume you can do something there the way you would in the rest of the country.
Anyhow the retreat was a blast and I am very excited to be done with that chapter of this journey.
Last time I posted I had mentioned Peggy Franklin the wonderful midwife that I have been working with the past few months. She is an amazing preceptor, full of knowledge, extremely giving and humble, and easy to talk to and always willing to help people. I have learned so much from her in the past three months. I believe working with her has been the perfect ending for my apprenticeship. I feel so balanced now. I have attended 7 births, approx. 100 prenatals and postpartums, and have had many enlightening conversations. I plan on continuing to travel to her place twice a month and go to births here and there until she kicks me out of the practice, or I get so busy here in Harrisonburg that I cannot possibly balance it all. Ha ha ha.
So now my focus is drumming up business and studying for the very scary NARM exam! Being an apprentice involved LOTS of driving and very little pay. I have been living very humbly for a few years now and this entire summer in particular and now the bank account is literally EMPTY. Like I have no clue how I am feeding my kids next week. So if your pregnant or know someone who is I can help you out or, more likely, help your kid OUT OF YOU! Give me a call and spread the word. : ) And wish me luck as I read, take notes, and worry about my exam for the next four months!
Bye.
Updates
Its near the end of July now. It seems that I can post just about once a month, and thats all.
I promised to post an update after my last entry and seeing as so much has changed I figured now is the time.
So the meeting with the nurse midwives went well. I cannot say that we are all friends now or that we see eye to eye but it was overall a very positive event and I am very hopeful for the future. I really think they are wonderful women and I am glad that families which choose hopsital birth have them as an option. We are planning on meeting again in a few months. I'll let you know how that goes too.
I got the job at the birth center. Well pretty much. I still have a contract to sign but I do not see any reason at this point why it wont work just fine.
I have been apprenticing now for over a month with the northern Virginia midwife. Her name is Peggy Franklin CPM, RN. She HAS kicked my butt! Its wonderful! I am putting about 600 miles a week on my car and doing dozens of prenatals and postpartums. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I leave Harrisonburg at 7am and get home as late as 11pm!! Its absolutely exhausting, but very much worth the time and expense. I am right on track for finishing everything up by Sept 10th. Woo hoo. I will have my CPM before I am 30! LOL
Well thats about it for now.
Love and light.
I promised to post an update after my last entry and seeing as so much has changed I figured now is the time.
So the meeting with the nurse midwives went well. I cannot say that we are all friends now or that we see eye to eye but it was overall a very positive event and I am very hopeful for the future. I really think they are wonderful women and I am glad that families which choose hopsital birth have them as an option. We are planning on meeting again in a few months. I'll let you know how that goes too.
I got the job at the birth center. Well pretty much. I still have a contract to sign but I do not see any reason at this point why it wont work just fine.
I have been apprenticing now for over a month with the northern Virginia midwife. Her name is Peggy Franklin CPM, RN. She HAS kicked my butt! Its wonderful! I am putting about 600 miles a week on my car and doing dozens of prenatals and postpartums. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I leave Harrisonburg at 7am and get home as late as 11pm!! Its absolutely exhausting, but very much worth the time and expense. I am right on track for finishing everything up by Sept 10th. Woo hoo. I will have my CPM before I am 30! LOL
Well thats about it for now.
Love and light.
Wasting time...
So I could be asleep or even better reading some informative book related to midwifery. Instead I am playing on the internet. So while I am at it I figured I could post some updates on me.
My open house went very well last month. A couple of nurse midwives from the hospital stopped in which was a pleasent surprise. We decided to have some informal get togethers with the home birth midwives and hospital based midwives. Very exciting indeed! I hope we can build bridges and become friends. I will update after our first meeting next month.
I had an interview a few weeks back at the new Mennonite only birth center which is opening this fall. I really hope I get that job. It will be different working so close to home after all of the traveling I have done for my training. They are planning on only having 3-4 births there per month so I wont be too busy to take my own clients too. That is IF I even get the job. Boy I wish we had a public birth center here in the burg. I bet it would be pretty well booked up quickly. A group of us have had this on our minds for years now. Just waiting for the perfect time to move forward. I truly believe that it could be a reality within the next 3 years.
I may also begin apprenticing under a northern Virginia midwife in a few weeks too. Just trying to see how much I can pile on my plate before I break. (ha ha) No really I am just trying to finish up my paper work so that I can meet the deadline to sit for the February 2010 NARM exam. This midwife that I will hopefully be working with is really busy and totally dedicated to training new midwives. From what I gather she will kick my butt, in a good way. So I will have the perspective of yet another wise women midwife to hopefully whip me into shape as a super duper midwife!
I really cannot believe how many hoops I have had to jump through to get this thing done. Anyone that thinks that apprenticeship is easy or not very thourough needs to walk a day in my shoes. This has been much more trying than getting my college degree...and that took me 6 years!! I guess having small kids and no money complicates everything.
Anyhow I need to catch two more babies, do a few newborn exams, and work through a few more skills and then I can turn everything in. The deadline is September 10th. Not too far away really. I cannot wait until the day I take that package to the post office. I'll be inviting all my girls to Clemintine for a "From Russia with Love" and some good ole fashion celebrating.
Well now I really feel like I should be studying or sleeping. So off to bed with a textbook I go.
Peace to all
My open house went very well last month. A couple of nurse midwives from the hospital stopped in which was a pleasent surprise. We decided to have some informal get togethers with the home birth midwives and hospital based midwives. Very exciting indeed! I hope we can build bridges and become friends. I will update after our first meeting next month.
I had an interview a few weeks back at the new Mennonite only birth center which is opening this fall. I really hope I get that job. It will be different working so close to home after all of the traveling I have done for my training. They are planning on only having 3-4 births there per month so I wont be too busy to take my own clients too. That is IF I even get the job. Boy I wish we had a public birth center here in the burg. I bet it would be pretty well booked up quickly. A group of us have had this on our minds for years now. Just waiting for the perfect time to move forward. I truly believe that it could be a reality within the next 3 years.
I may also begin apprenticing under a northern Virginia midwife in a few weeks too. Just trying to see how much I can pile on my plate before I break. (ha ha) No really I am just trying to finish up my paper work so that I can meet the deadline to sit for the February 2010 NARM exam. This midwife that I will hopefully be working with is really busy and totally dedicated to training new midwives. From what I gather she will kick my butt, in a good way. So I will have the perspective of yet another wise women midwife to hopefully whip me into shape as a super duper midwife!
I really cannot believe how many hoops I have had to jump through to get this thing done. Anyone that thinks that apprenticeship is easy or not very thourough needs to walk a day in my shoes. This has been much more trying than getting my college degree...and that took me 6 years!! I guess having small kids and no money complicates everything.
Anyhow I need to catch two more babies, do a few newborn exams, and work through a few more skills and then I can turn everything in. The deadline is September 10th. Not too far away really. I cannot wait until the day I take that package to the post office. I'll be inviting all my girls to Clemintine for a "From Russia with Love" and some good ole fashion celebrating.
Well now I really feel like I should be studying or sleeping. So off to bed with a textbook I go.
Peace to all
My office space
Last month I rented a cozy little room in the downstairs of Kate's Natural Food's , next to Wholistic Wisdom on University Blvd in Harrisonburg. My little space is perfect for midwifery, childbirth education and seeing doula clients. I spent a few weeks painting, shopping, framing, and moving all of my stuff in. It looks amazing. To celebrate I am having an open house on May 19th with tea and yummy desserts for my clients past and present and my family and friends.
I have things set up so pretty in here and since I try to come without the kids this space has not only become a "work" setting but also a retreat for me. I can relax and get things done with dim lighting, comfy and CLEAN furniture (no cats or kids!) and pandora on the laptop. Ahhhhhh. If only there was a hottub in here. Maybe one day when I convert this place into Harrisonburgs first free-standing birth center I'll install a super duper birthing tub with jets!
I have things set up so pretty in here and since I try to come without the kids this space has not only become a "work" setting but also a retreat for me. I can relax and get things done with dim lighting, comfy and CLEAN furniture (no cats or kids!) and pandora on the laptop. Ahhhhhh. If only there was a hottub in here. Maybe one day when I convert this place into Harrisonburgs first free-standing birth center I'll install a super duper birthing tub with jets!
Not sure if blogs are for me...
So this blog thing is a nifty idea but where does a busy mother and homebirth midwife find the extra time to post things?? I had really hoped this could be an advertising tool for my business but really is that the point of blogs? So next Sunday the husband of a former client of mine is going to help me create a real website! Exciting right. He actually does this kind of stuff as his business so I know its going to be better than anything I could ever come up with.
So now this blog will be just that...a blog. I will use it to rant and randomely post "cool" things but I will not be directing clients or potential clients here.
Heres to the future of my blog, cheers.
So now this blog will be just that...a blog. I will use it to rant and randomely post "cool" things but I will not be directing clients or potential clients here.
Heres to the future of my blog, cheers.
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