Many of her family members had careers in healthcare, so you could say it runs in her blood! Her grandfather was a family physician in Canada and would provide homebirths, and her great-grandmother was a missionary in India who was trained in community health and would do home deliveries and provide postpartum care to new mothers and their babies.

 

She started nursing school with a plan for pediatrics, but when she assisted with a birth for the first time, she knew she wanted to be a midwife. She saw how vital prenatal care is for the health of newborns, and she loved how midwives provided holistic prenatal care that focused on a woman's whole person, mind, body, and soul. For there to be healthy children and families, you, of course, need healthy moms.

 

She comes to us with over five years of experience as a midwife in the out-of-hospital birth setting and also worked with OB/GYN physicians in San Antonio and Austin, providing obstetric and gynecologic care for women from adolescence to menopause. She currently serves as an adjunct faculty member for the School of Nursing at Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University, leading OB clinical groups for undergraduate nursing students.

 

She had four children while she was studying for a Masters in Women's Health and Midwifery, all born with the help of midwives: one in hospital, two at birth centers, and one at home. Experiencing midwifery care during her pregnancies further strengthened her desire to provide midwifery care to other women on their own journey through motherhood.

 

"There’s a Norwegian proverb that goes, “The greatest joy in life is to become a mother. The second greatest is to be a midwife.” Being a mother has brought me such joy. I’m incredibly blessed to be a midwife and walk with women on their journeys to becoming mothers, witnessing them experience the joy of motherhood for themselves. With that great joy, there is, of course, great responsibility, and that is why I believe it’s crucial for women to strengthen, support, and believe in each other. Midwifery, more than any other health profession, does this in such a beautiful way. For mothers, there are often no prizes given, no medals or trophies handed out, and yet they are the real heroes, and their work of nurturing life is sacred. It’s an honor to care for those who care for and do so much for others!" - Midwife Rachel