Having grown up in a family that used midwives for five of my sibling’s births, I saw birth as a natural process f
rom an early age. As children, my siblings and I always eagerly anticipated the arrival of a new baby, and it thrilled me to be able to meet the new baby shortly after birth and be involved with the first bath and other newborn care. This is partly what made me interested in midwifery, and as I got older, the Lord continued to lead in this direction.
When I was 16, I had the privilege of attending my first birth, which was a direct answer to prayer as I was asking the Lord that summer to make it clear if I should pursue midwifery training. Throughout the next four years I continued to attend friend’s births whenever possible, and did some reading and studying on my own. At that point, the doors closed as far as apprenticeship opportunities were concerned, so during the next few years I enjoyed the chance to travel. Taking a class on medical missions in NC, spending a winter in Central America, teaching English in Mexico for a summer, and many other opportunities gave me new perspectives on life as well as a greater burden to learn a skill that could be possibly used in missions someday.
In 2006, God clearly opened the doors to continue midwifery education, and that fall I enrolled in the Association of Texas Midwives Midwifery Training Program. Then in the spring of 2007, I moved to Grand Prairie, TX, in order to receive my clinical training at Family Birth Services. I felt blessed to be able to train at that birth center, which has been in operation for around 30 years, and has trained midwives all over the country. With the wide variety of clientele that the birth center served, there were opportunities to be involved with many different situations and complications. During my time in Texas, I also had the wonderful privilege of working with over 10 different midwives, as well as the opportunity to gain other experience such as working with a nurse midwife doing prenatal clinics for low-income women in inner-city Dallas.
I graduated from the academic program in March of 2008, and finished my internship at the birth center in early December, 2008. In February 2009, I sat for and passed the North American Registry of Midwives exam, allowing me to become a Certified Professional Midwife. I began my own midwifery practice early in 2009, and I enjoyed practicing in the Central Kansas area, many times driving long distances to rural locations where no midwives were available. During the next few years, I delivered babies in many areas of KS, OK, and even went as far south as Guatemala in order to deliver the baby of a missionary couple.
In September of 2010, I married my husband, Joel Martin, who is from PA. After staying in KS for a few months following the wedding, we made the move cross country to Juniata Co, PA, where we plan to settle for awhile. Joel’s dream is to work in the field of Bible translation (you can read more about his work at www.allnataionsbibletranslation.org), so we are hoping to pursue further training with the hopes of being involved on a foreign field at some point. In the meantime, we are enjoying time to interact with Joel’s community and family, and see what God has in store for us here.
