Basic medicine making terms and methods along with a few recipes for you to try yourself.

Taking care of families through multiple pregnancies is super special. This mama and I met in an ICAN meeting about 6 years ago. I will never forget Katye's willingness to share about her traumatic experience with her first son. A completely unnecessary cesarean forced upon her by a very aggressive doctor who lacked patience and compassion. Every single meeting Katye would come and cry and my heart broke for her every time.

We are proud and excited to be offering more breastfeeding support to our local moms. We now have 2 Lactation Consultants in the house!!

I’ve always thought of myself as a fairly confident person, as far as body image goes. I don’t often care what others think, as evidenced by my love for very short hair, wearing bright colors, and being seen in public often in leggings (“not-real-pants,” as my husband calls them). I rarely wear makeup anymore, often forget that my eyebrows are bushy or my legs need shaving, and don’t even own a scale since I never weigh myself. But I find that I’m likely just as self conscious as the next person- looking in the mirror and seeing only the bags under my eyes or that flabby skin, thinking my hair hates me today, wondering if the shorts I just put on are too short for these thighs or if something this tight should be worn out in public. I have my struggles like anyone.

When a home birth does not work out for one reason or another with a first baby, it can be so redemptive to see families navigate their way peacefully the second go around.

My first son was born in the hospital with typical hospital scares (and almost a c-section), but I was able to have him naturally and vaginally.

The night after he was born, I walked up to the nurses counter and had a conversation with one of the nurses.  She had six children, five were born at home.  She told me “don’t come back here stay at home.”

Last year I made a promise to the community that I would provide annual statistics reflecting our year in births as a form of transparent care. You can read our 2013-2014 statistics here. 

I have planned to give birth at home for years. Not 'just' a crazy hippie, it was actually my extensive education and years of work in the field of maternity care that had convinced me.

I knew that for my healthy baby and I, the care of a trained midwife at home had far fewer unnecessary interventions, more personal and respectful care, and was as safe as giving birth in the hospital. 

I woke up around 3 in the morning and had a contraction that felt a bit different than the Braxton Hicks I’d been having in increasing frequency lately. It came and then it went, and then another did the same as I was trying to fall back asleep. I really had thought baby wouldn’t come for at least a few more days - I was only 39+3 and Booker had come at 40+2. But the contractions felt different enough that I decided to start timing them right then."

We are so pleased to share with the community our new labor of love, The Community Roots Collective. With this special space we are inviting families to come grow with us! We hope to create a space where families can come grow their roots by building community through education, resources, and most of all- LOVE! We celebrated our official grand opening on Sunday May 17th. Thank you to the 250+ families that came out to celebrate and bless our new space! We had such a fantastic time with all of you and look forward to making more memories in the years to come! 

As a kick off to our grand opening weekend at the Community Roots Collective we hosted an awesome babywearing ballet with the help of Diana from Wrap Your Baby. 

So many mamas with their little squishes came and it was so fun to have the babies entertained while mamas got a fun but serious workout. We cannot wait to have these ballets monthly at the Community Roots! 

It was amazing to be apart of the birth team for Andrea's family. 

We try to keep it real with our clients. Any birth is a success. It takes great courage to walk into one of the most overwhelming, intense, and beautiful experiences in life- birth. No matter how it happens it takes so much strength and determination. We're excited to open the dialogue more about collaborative care, homebirth transfers, and especially necessary cesareans. 

A dedicated postpartum doula is just what the Tampa Bay Area has needed! Gaetane is here to provide support, love, and some much needed extra hands for families who have just welcomed new babes into their homes! 

The birth of Isla... 

This Family of three is about to become a family of five. 

J&J had their maternity on the beach so why not have their newborn session there too? 

. Even when a family plans a home birth, no one can guarantee them that outcome.  What I can do is provide one on one support throughout every possible bend and turn and help families feel prepared for wherever their birth journey heads. The important part, after all is said and done, is that the family feels heard, respected, and loved throughout the whole experience. 

I am pleased to say that our new family member and I go wayyyyyy back. We fell in birth-love our very first year of midwifery school together. Jenn has lived near Jacksonville, FL and I never thought I would see the day that her geographical location would change so that we could join forces. I am thrilled and so grateful to share that Jenn is building her new home here in Tampa with us and is going to be a fabulous addition to the Barefoot Family and a huge asset to childbearing families in the Tampa Bay Area. 

In keeping with my transparency promise, I am bringing you some more VERY exciting stats that I have been wanting to collect and publish for quite some time.