Sacramento Based Community Midwife
My grandmother, Maria de la Luz with my son Rafael as a baby. She inspires me everyday in this work and I will always remember her encouragement, storytelling about her births, and mothering experiences.
Meet Stephanie
(También hablo español. Los servicios de partería están disponibles en español.)
Born and raised in South Sacramento, I take pride in working in a community I feel connected to. My work locally has centered Spanish-speakers and serving immigrant populations in hospital translation, birth support, and knowing their rights when it comes to bringing their babies earthside.
My Heritage and Philosophy:
Growing up, my grandmother shared stories with me about her mother’s sister who was the partera, a midwife in her hometown of Chinacates, Durango, Mexico. She shared with me that there was a hacienda she had where clients would come to birth. Hearing these stories, I was able to conceptualize the need her community had for a midwife who had skilled hands and could provide care her community was in need of.
I will always be a student, learning from clients and other midwives alike. Connecting to my ancestral teachings has allowed me to blend traditional and modern midwifery in a way I did not know was possible. As I continue to grow my practice, I intend to continue learning and bring the knowledge to people seeking the connection as well.
I hope to honor my heritage by taking responsibility for what I have learned and supporting expecting families with the most compassionate care possible. I am also a mother of a beautiful mind Rafael, who brings light to my world daily. When I am not at births I enjoy reading, making plant medicines, seeing live music and collecting vinyl records.
También hablo español. Los servicios de partería están disponibles en español.
Prior Work Experience and Education:
I have worked at local clinics in preconception and full spectrum care. Prior to my work as a doula and student midwife, I also worked as a social worker in various local nonprofits.
I graduated from National College of Midwifery. Before midwifery school, I earned a Bachelor’s Degree at Humboldt State University.
As a midwifery student, I trained in intensive apprenticeships with Big Valley Midwives in the California’s Central Valley. I grew to love rural midwifery, causing me to expand my service radius as far south as Turlock. I also trained with Taproot Midwifery, local to Sacramento.
As I progressed in midwifery school, I felt a pull to learn from indigenous and Mexican midwives who could help me pass on traditional midwifery teachings as well as balance clinical knowledge. I became honored to work for a short time at Luna Tierra and NaSer, a birthing center in El Paso, Texas where we as midwives also brought home birth services and midwifery care across the border to Juarez, Mexico. My time there changed my outlook on myself as a midwife, how I wanted to practice, and the best way to serve folks of color and Spanish speakers here in my own city. To best serve my community, I continue to build community and learn from many midwives of color who have mentored me throughout my journey. I feel honored to be in their company as a colleague and have the utmost respect for the teachings that have been passed on to me.
Humility and Dignity Are Essential
While looking for a midwife in my own pregnancy, I only became aware of the care I was looking for upon receiving care. I knew I wanted a midwife who looked like me, knew of my cultural traditions and was able to understand me without all the explanations. As I have had the privilege of serving my community, I see that many folks of color are looking for a midwife from their cultural background, we are acutely aware that more midwives of color are needed here. We know that people who experience systemic racism and white supremacy in their child bearing time are less likely to feel heard, valued, and included in decision making about their healthcare. Seeing how I was treated after planning a home birth and transferring to the hospital, I became well aware of how my concerns were dismissed and the amount of information that went unexplained. As a midwife, I am constantly working to decolonize and unlearn teachings rooted in racism in my practice.