I was born in 1967 and in one form or another have been attending births for the entirety of my adult life.

I am frequently asked why I became a midwife. The honest answer is that I became a midwife because my prayer was answered.

There are 5 generations of women alive in my family and it is from them that I have received my great love for midwifery and woman's health. Elva, Esther, Fiona, and Lilii are my greatest inspiration.

My mother and grandmothers are of Mexican and Native American decent. As a young woman my mother decided to dedicate herself to the needs of indigenous First Nation people. Life with my mother was spent in constant motion and travel. She took us all across the nation, following "The Red Road", trying to "assist the cause".

No matter where we went, we always felt at home. We felt at home because she had instilled in us the understanding that the sky and the moon and the earth is our home. In each new place we would be encouraged to find our own special outdoor spot, to learn of the local plants and waterways and to learn the songs of the land. This is how her aunts instructed her and this is how she instructed me. My mother is still an activist and works for a First Nation tribe. And she still makes sure that take time to "sit in my spot"!

When I myself became a young woman I was filled with an overwhelming desire to be of service. I remember being 18 years old, sitting in a clearing of scrub-brush up in the Yukon- crying my heart out with unmitigated honesty and longing "Please mother, make use of my life, I want to serve you".

Someone must have heard the sincerity of that cry because, though I could not see it at the time, it marked the beginning of my path towards midwifery. It was many many years later when a mother was asking me something about my life experience that I remembered that moment up in the Yukon. The most amazing feeling of self-realization washed over me as I was sitting there with my hands on her growing belly! I WAS SERVING THE MOTHER! My prayer had been answered!

During that period of realization everything started to click together for me. I became at peace with my life, I was "on path" and doing exactly what I was meant to do! I could see how my entire life was arranged for the benefit of my midwifery education.

Working for the Indian Center as a teenager gave me the strength to survive the politics of midwifery. Attending arduous traditional ceremonies gave me the strength to maintain my focus and stamina during long births. Sitting with wise grandmothers taught me the value of empirical knowledge, spending time in the wild places of the earth gave me insight to the cycles of life and the usefulness of natural remedies, my own difficult obstetric history instilled in me a deep sense of compassion and understanding.

My first birth was a planned home birth and ended with a cesarean. Armed with a worn copy of Spiritual Midwifery, I had already attended many "back to basic births" and was comfortable with the process of birth. I was 21. I was married to a traditional shaman who was 17 years older than me. I had been practicing yoga for many years. I spent the first few months of my pregnancy in a wilderness camp. I ate whole foods and wild foods. I walked to work everyday the last half of my pregnancy. I had a fairly low stress life. I was active, strong and in perfect health.

Though the experience was hard, I am not sure that I would have found my way without out it. It drove me towards midwifery stronger and quicker than anything else could have ever done. I had attended many births previous to my own but I was young and I was not a mother. My concept of birth was that it was an uncomplicated event that didn't require a large knowledge base.

In my unquenchable thirst to figure out what had happened to me and why it had happened, I read every major obstetrical and midwifery text that I could get my hands on. No passage was too complicated, no page was less than immensely important. I dived into it like a stranded mermaid who had finally found the sea. When I eventually came up for air in 1993, I was ready and I found my midwife mentor- Lynn Richards.

Lynn was a pioneer in the v-bac movement, a hugely experienced midwife, author, mother and birth activist. With her guidance I began melding my understanding of primal health with the science of evidence based care.

Once my commitment to midwifery was formalized, I sought to gather any and all information that I could concerning childbirth and women's health. I drove to Mexico to learn obscure techniques from my Aunties, I made my way to Peru to interview a midwives. I interned within birthing centers and hospitals in Central America. I also privately studied with local allopathic physicians and nurses. I have attended women in homes, hospitals, birth centers, urban areas and rural areas.

I value both the traditions and the professional standards of midwifery. There is the spiritual aspect- yes and there is also the clinical aspect. I believe that these aspects can be merged to provide for what I term as Authentic Midwifery. Midwifery that progresses and maintains appropriate clinical standards yet stays true to the ideals of holistic care.