2023 & Look Ahead to 2024
At the end of the year I choose a word of the year and take time lay out some goals for the new year. Sometimes that word comes later in the year like in 2023, I landed on Joyful sometime around February or March. After loosing my dad in 2021 to cancer I wanted to really focus on the joy that my life had and start picking up the pieces after his death and honoring where I was in the grief process. I think I did a decent job of it and have found joy through the year. I spent some time traveling to the pacific NW, the outer banks (Hatteras NC) and made it to Cleveland and Cincinnati a few times. I went to some amazing concerts (Lizzo, Ani Difranco, Nelsonville music festival along with a few others). I haven’t come up with my 2024 word yet, it seems like somehow we are this far into December and closer to the end of the year than I realized. I have however been thinking about my goals for 2024 and what I want to accomplish in my business.
I have space available for 4 virtual coaching clients a month either with my virtual midwifery program or parent coaching. If you have a rough patch you are working through with your kiddo or you as a parent are feeling stretched and could use support, this is for you! Let me midwife you through parenting. If you’ve worked with me and know the benefit I’ve brought to you I would love for you to share with friends who could gain insight from either program. Everyone should have access to help and support during their entry into parenting!
Continue helping my amazing clients have babies at home! I’ve had the pleasure of attending 238 births and had a number of families with me for childbirth education. Each family I’ve worked with has brought me immense joy and fulfillment, one of my favorite things is watching each family grow. I know I’ve told many people along the way that it’s an honor to witness them become parents, that isn’t just lip service.
Continue mentoring new midwives and birth workers as they launch or grow their businesses.
Internal Family Systems training. This one is huge for me and feels really big. It is going to be such a great resource to offer for my clients across the board. It is a method that my therapist introduced me to years ago and I’ve been shouting from the rooftop about it ever since. I’ve been searching for providers that offer IFS locally and there are very few and most aren’t accepting new clients. I’ve been researching how to integrate it into my practice for year now and decided to take the step to take level 1 training in 2024-2025 depending on when I can snag a spot. They are offered on an ongoing basis but fill up fast.
And an oddball one, I want to learn to do a loud whistle with my fingers! I like random talents and could use another one to add into my repertoire. I learned how to raise one eyebrow the summer between 7th and 8th grade because my friends mom would give us THAT look.
I’m looking forward to the new year and planning some more travel (I have the best travel companion) spending time with my family and friends. My life feels very full and balanced in a way that seemed impossible just a few years ago. I’m fortunate in a lot of ways to have my life be where it is now and lucky to have the time to put into focusing on how I want it to be.
Finally, I want to share stats for the year. Since reducing the amount of clients I take on for home birth stats have been skewed, a transfer or two within a year can seem like my transfer rate is unusually high. Breastfeeding rates this year aren’t 100% for the first time, partially fueled by parental choice to not breastfeed. Last year stats were eerily perfect with a 0% transfer rate. This year… not so much and that is ok, the goal isn’t a home birth at all costs. The goal is that we have the best outcomes for clients and babies. The vast majority of my clients who birthed at home birthed in water. 1 client had a precipitous birth (less than 2 hours) and one client got out of the water and didn’t get back in. These types of years make me reflect on how I operate within my practice and how I honor the client experience. I come back to this: my role is to give excellent care while honoring the experience of my client, the baby and the family. Basically, I will continue giving good care to optimize chances of a healthy of pregnancy, birth and postpartum.
