Starting August 2018, Birthstream will have a new student! She has already volunteered at the 2018 Whole Earth Festival midwife booth...even before she was an official student! We are looking forward to beginning this journey with her.
Rachel at the 2018 Whole Earth Festival. Flowers by @flowermama
Hi I'm Rachel Schwartz and I was born and raised in Davis. I'm about to start my journey as a student midwife with Birthstream.but before realizing the calling of Midwifery I was baking pies at the Collins Farm, helping out on organic farms, and working with kids.
Apprenticing with Birthstream is a dream coming into reality for me. I am so grateful to have this group of wise women initiate me into the art of midwifery.
I have felt drawn to some form of healing arts practice for years: I've practiced as a massage therapist, enjoy yoga and meditation, and love incorporating into my life other tools that enhance my well-being.
I also feel at home in the role of a space holder and support person. In the past two years I've discovered how much I enjoy offering those skills in the space of birth. While living in Missoula, MT in 2015 I took a doula training with Birth Mama Doula. Then in Davis in 2016 I joined the volunteer doula program at Sutter Davis Hospital and began attending and assisting at births. Every time I am present at a birth I feel humbled by its sacredness and awed at the strength and vulnerability of the person in labor.
I now feel called to offer more through the holistic and collaborative form of care that midwifery provides. I love that midwifery creates the space for relationships of real trust to be built between care providers and clients.
It's clear to me that births are shaped by the people who attend them, the environment, and the level of safety and respect the laboring person feels. I love that midwifery care in a home birth setting is uniquely sensitive to these aspects of birth.
I am so excited for this immersion into a midwifery practice that is offering our community something so important! I'm equally excited to meet many amazing families along the way!