My name is Kelly Fournier. I am a Certified Professional Midwife. I graduated from Mercy In Action’s College of Midwifery. I am a Certified Birth Educator and have taken Birth Emergency Skills Training. I am CPR and NRP certified. I trained under two home birth CPMs in Tennessee, working into the position of active midwife’s assistant and eventually into a primary midwife role. I continued my apprenticeship, working as a primary under supervision with two CPMs in Missouri, and completed my training in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania working with two CPMs at one of the largest midwifery practices in the United States. I am certified by the North American Registry of Midwives and legally practice in the state of Missouri
Hi! My name is Joanna Rocker. From a very young age I actually felt the call to be a missionary. It wasn't until during high-school that I attended a week-long course on home birth that I became interested in midwifery. The midwife teaching the course mentioned that if any of us had ever wanted to do mission work, that birth was something we would need to be educated on since women would just show up on your doorstep asking for help in developing countries.
After graduating from high school, I attended a 3 month midwifery intensive with Mercy In Action. They fund their free-access birth centers in the Philippines by teaching midwifery to students in the US. Afterwards I even had the opportunity of volunteering at their birth center in the Philippines. There I witnessed my first births, and was surprised to see that birth did not have to be a very difficult and strenuous experience. Some of the moms came in and gave birth within a matter of minutes. They just breathed their babies out, making it look like something one could almost do every day! This was night and day from the culture of fear surrounding birth I had witnessed in movies and traumatic experiences I had heard retold.
Over the next years I apprenticed under 7 different midwives in Colorado, Tennessee, Oregon and Missouri, gaining experience in a variety of settings, including at home, birth center and hospital. This gave me appreciation for a variety of techniques and made me realize that in general, there is not only "one right way" of doing things, what may be right for one woman may be totally different for another. I also married my best friend and husband, giving birth to our first at home with a midwife and the memories of many strong, laboring women to guide me. Afterwards I finished my required births as the primary attendant and completed my certification as a CPM spring of 2020 just before I gave birth to our second baby, also at home. Since then I have had the joy and look forward to continuing to help many more babies out into the world.
Hi, my name is Grace Sleep. Student midwife by day and also a student midwife by night since babies come whenever they want! :)
I'm also a photographer and photo editor.
I have been interested in natural childbirth for as long as I can remember. In high school, I took doula training and had the priviledge of doing birth photography for a few good friends. I quickly found I enjoyed helping mamas give birth but wasn't sure which direction to go. In late 2021, after much prayer, I felt called to pursue midwifery. The next year, I dove fully in. I have been so grateful for each and every experience on my journey thus far. Birth is truly one of the most special occasions in this life, and I am honored every time I get to witness a new person coming into the world. I'm a Certified Childbirth Educator, am certified in NRP, and have taken the Birth Emergency Skills Training. I'm pursuing midwifery certification through NARM and am currently taking classes from the Holistic Birth Institute.
The Midwives Model of Care is based on the fact that pregnancy and birth are normal life events.
It includes:
The application of this woman-centered model of care has been proven to reduce the incidence of birth injury, trauma, and cesarean section.
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A Certified Professional Midwife is a midwife who has specialized training in home birth, and has passed an examination administered by the North American Registry of Midwives (www.NARM.org) which establishes her skills and knowledge regarding safe midwifery practice
I have had the amazing privilege and joy of serving women over the past nine years. I feel that knowledge, sensitivity, preparation, discernment, prayer, and a listening ear are essential in giving support and care throughout pregnancy, birth, and postnatal care. I am always in awe by how each birth is as beautiful and unique as the babies that are born. I have enjoyed many opportunities to deliver multiple children within the same family, along with the special privilege of serving as midwife for my own daughters.
"We prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him."
1 Samuel 1:26-28
"So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous.
And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own."
Exodus 1:20-21
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
Philippians 4:13
