Every pregnancy, birth, and postpartum is a journey and I see myself as a partner in care.
get to know my journey
My name is Shawna and I am Certified Professional Midwife, educator, mother and much more.
I'm here to guide you and empower you.
From prenatal to birth, to postpartum and whole person wellness, my work revolves around holistic planning and collaborative care. I take into consideration nutrition, integrative and functional wellness. I consider myself a heart led researcher and am passionate about helping clients find information and resources to make empowered decisions.
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I worked in Antarctica from 2000-2005 and my home base was New Zealand. I had the good fortune to spend time with a friend whose mother was a home birth midwife. I was enthralled with the profession and possibility to offer compassionate, personalized in home health care.
I had studied psychology and biology at University of Colorado at Boulder, and had considered going into the medical school. But the curriculums I researched did not seem to take into account nutrition, the complex emotional dynamic of an individual. I found myself dismayed and turned to other pursuits after college including working as a guide in the mountains, working for a sexual assault crisis center, before finding midwifery.
My midwife journey began in a very non traditional fashion.
I BECAME ENTHRALLED WITH THE CONCEPT Of compassionate & personalized care, where the uniqueness of each individual is taken into consideration.
Upon return to the United States, my husband and I started a family farm. The farm instilled a deep sense of responsibility, the complexities of life and our interconnectedness. It became a gathering place for friends, family and community members. We were deeply committed to community education and held many courses and workshops over the years.
Over the next many years I studied midwifery informally while running a farm and event center, becoming a doula, giving birth to and raising two amazing children and running a community education series of classes.
In 2011 I began formal training for midwifery, attending National Midwifery Institute and doing my clinical work with many home birth practitioners and at NOVA Natural Birth Center in Northern Virginia. I have had the great fortune to work with many amazing birth workers over the years. I have partnered with organizations to further community birth work education including Mercy In Action, BEST, ToLabor, and DONA.
In 2017 I joined Riverside Midwifery as a Certified Professional Midwife, offering home birth services to clients.
my journey in numbers:
900+
clients
in my care
2
children
of my own
20+
years of education
10
years of
service
Every pregnancy, birth, and postpartum is a journey and I see myself as a partner in care. My work revolves around holistic planning and collaborative care taking into consideration wellness around nutrition, integrative and functional wellness. I consider myself a heart led researcher and am passionate about helping clients find information and resources. For the past two years I have had the great privilege to serve women as a traveling midwifery, both domestic and international.
I see myself as a partner in care.
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