As I sit here to write my goodbye, it doesn’t seem entirely real that two decades with Birthstream is coming to an end this year. I started with Birthstream in Summer of 2000 with a grand total of 11 births attended as a doula, Elizabeth Davis’ Heart and Hands under my belt, and a three year old. Tosi saw potential in me (or just really needed the help that year) and I am grateful she took the chance on that midwifery student who was the babysitter for her Birthstream client. Before I had even attended a birth with Birthstream and while Tosi was on a long vacation, I got pregnant with my younger son. It wasn’t the initial impression that I had hoped to make, but fortunately it seemed to work out in the long run.

After training with Tosi Marceline, Claudia Breglia and Amy Morgan, I graduated from National Midwifery Institute and earned my California Midwifery License in March 2005. I have worked with many wonderful Birthstream midwives throughout the years. They have taught me valuable lessons, shared late night laughs, and explored taquerias and pho restaurants throughout the tri-county area. I am forever grateful. Beyond the midwives who I have shared most of my waking hours with for the past 20 years, it is the families I will miss most.

Words are insufficient to express the honor and privilege of the invitation into your sacred spaces. I have never taken those invitations for granted and am always humbled by the trust placed in me to help you welcome your babies into this world. I may forget extended family member’s names, but I never forget the looks of triumph, holding space when the unimaginable happened, the cautious delight of an older sibling catching a first glimpse of a new baby, dads and grampas with tears streaming down their faces as they realize baby is here and everyone is okay, and all the many moments when families felt heard and supported and free to welcome babies the way that their ancestors had for generations.

My heart will always be with home birth, but in January 2022 I am starting a new chapter in midwifery. I have accepted the position of Clinical Director for the California Birth Center in Rocklin, California. It is a new challenge which is both exciting and scary at the same time…as is always the case with the unknown! I am looking forward to supporting a new team of midwives as they help families welcome their babies next year. The Birth Center is growing and I will have many opportunities to learn new skills and spread my wings. I may even attend a few births…once a midwife, always a midwife!

This position will also give me the opportunity to have more time to continue my Spiritual Direction training. This has been a growing call on my life for a long time but the pivot to virtual classwork has made it possible for me to start this past year. Spiritual Directors are essentially midwives for the soul. I hope to find a way to integrate the deep soul work of both Midwifery and Spiritual Direction in the coming years. In addition, I will continue to serve on The North American Registry of Midwives board, as I have for the past two years.

Finally, as I say at each six week postpartum visit…I am your midwife forever, please keep in touch (you know my cell number or email me rachel.foxtierney@gmail.com) or come visit me!

With big hugs, sloppy tears, and many blessings to you all,

Rachel