"The first greatest joy is to become a mother; the next, to become a midwife".

And blessed am I to be both! I take true joy in my calling as a midwife. It is such a privilege to help family’s welcome new babies to their lives. I truly consider it more than a job, it's a vocation, a calling, and I am lucky to share this journey with you. I was also specially blessed in March of 2011 to welcome home my daughter Liana, who I adopted internationally. She graces me daily with her toddler exuberance and keeps me hopping!

A little about me. I was born in Ohio, spent childhood in the mountains of Colorado, then at age 9 I moved to the Seattle area until college. I spent four years in Boston earning my Nursing degree and then moved to rural New Mexico. After that, a few years back in Seattle, a few in Arizona and then two wonderful years working as a midwife in Laos, a poor country in SE Asia. In 2003 my calling led to here to Lancaster County and to Birth Care. I live in rural Quarryville with Liana and our two dogs, Tobey and Duffy.

I worked as a labor and delivery nurse for 8 years before becoming a midwife in 2001. My experience in hospital is what led me to focus primarily on out-of-hospital (birth center or home birth). I truly believe that healthy, low-risk women are better off outside of the hospital. At Birth Care I really appreciate that we offer all three options so that every woman can give birth where she feels most safe and comfortable. I believe that each pregnancy and birth offers a woman, her family, and her midwife a special lesson that is unique to each and every time.