Panhandle Birth Center

11/17/2025

Hire a well educated doula.

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/17X2zR7vSv/

11/12/2025

11/12/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/17GsMiwheT/

✨ It’s not always “the system.” ✨

In some birth spaces, there’s a belief that birth trauma is almost always caused by the medical system.

Yes... sometimes it contributes. But those who’ve truly listened to hundreds (or thousands) of stories know that the roots of birth trauma usually go much deeper than that.

Pam England, who has spent over 50 years listening to birth stories, identified what she called the “Seeds of Birth Trauma.” These are the places where disorientation and distress take root, long before, during, and after birth.

When Birth Story Listeners hear stories, we often find that even when interventions or medical decisions were part of the experience, what lingers isn’t just what was done, it’s how it felt and the meaning we take from that.

✨ Did I feel heard?
✨ Did I feel supported?
✨ Did I show up for myself the way I hoped I would?
✨ Did others show up for me?

One of the most common seeds is the Relationship Seed.

This grows when, after birth, we question how others responded to us, our caregivers, our partners, our support people ...... and how we believe that we turned up for ourselves, how we coped and how our body labored.

We might find ourselves wondering:
💭 “Why didn’t I speak up?”
💭 “Why didn’t they listen?”
💭 “Why didn’t my body do what I expected?”

These tender questions are often the true source of conflict, not necessarily the interventions themselves.

There are other Seeds too:
🌱 The Promises & Expectations Seed
🌱 The Overwhelming Physical Experience Seed

…and more to come in future posts.

Understanding these Seeds helps us move beyond blame — of the system or ourselves — and into healing.

If this resonates, Birth Story Medicine can help you find the peace and meaning your story has been holding all along.

📖 Book a Birth Story Medicine session and begin transforming how you feel about your birth — today. DM us.

11/08/2025

So much history that entails misogyny, women’s rights, social class, and even medical exploration .

As hospitals became the norm for childbirth, midwifery was deliberately marginalized across much of the U.S. Physicians labeled home birth as “outdated” and unsafe, pushing obstetric care into hospitals and claiming authority over birth.

While midwives were losing legal standing in many regions, formal nurse-midwifery programs began emerging in Britain and parts of Europe — keeping the tradition alive through education and professional recognition.

In the American South, Black “granny midwives” continued to serve their communities with care, wisdom, and resilience — dramatically improving infant survival rates despite limited access to resources.

Meanwhile, hospitals introduced new medical interventions like ether, twilight sleep, and routine forceps use. Unfortunately, these early interventions often led to worse outcomes before sterile techniques and evidence-based practices were widely adopted.

Through all these changes, midwives continued to be the quiet strength behind safe, compassionate birth care — preserving the wisdom of generations even as the landscape of birth transformed.

11/08/2025

I decided to add another free standing tub to my birth center. I like them. They are sanitary, easy to fill and empty and it looks great!

09/17/2025

This👇🏼
How is it justified.

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1158774726151461/?mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v

08/27/2025

https://www.facebook.com/reel/2036502896759200/?mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v

08/26/2025

Two posts in one day? Crazy I know, I'm a social media slacker 🤷‍♀️ But I also wanted to give a shout out to Panhandle Birth Center, because I've work with Sandra the past 2 births and she's just wonderful! Check out this beautiful little rainbow that popped up while I was at her birth center during our last session together 🌈 perfectly placed by her sign, and photo bombed by a cute little bird!

08/26/2025

Another wonderful arrival at the Panhandle Birth Center! This remarkable family exemplified strength and beauty, and their newborn was absolutely stunning!
Wonderful job capturing those moments Nicole!

Right before our little family vacation and school started back up, I was blessed to be invited into another birth space! Mama was incredible, and dad was just an amazing birth partner, making sure she had anything she needed and supporting her the entire time. Congratulations to the Giesbrecht's, y'all were amazing to work with 💚

08/16/2025

Childbirth is a monumental journey filled with both challenges and incredible rewards, and it's so important to share the truth about it. Women have been bringing life into this world for generations, and each experience is a testament to their strength and resilience. You have the knowledge and wisdom of countless women supporting you, reminding you that you are capable of overcoming any obstacle you face. Embrace your power, trust your instincts, and know that you are wonderfully made for this journey. You can do anything you set your mind to—your strength is awe-inspiring, and the world needs your unique contributions!

What if we told women the truth about birth?

We’d have to tell them that contractions will probably be more than “surges” or “sensations.”

That they’ll probably rock your world and leave you begging for salvation as you clutch the edge of the tub or the hospital linens.

That your gentle breathing exercises and your Spotify soundtrack will be left in the dust as you sweat and pant and sway and swear your way through it

That you’ll trip harder than any mushroom you ever did in college and vomit with the same ferocity and travel to places deep within yourself that you didn’t know existed.

That you’ll float above your body and simultaneously be trapped in it with an intensity you’ve never tasted.

And in that intensity,
in the sweating and the swearing
and the swaying and the vomiting
and the endless hours of contractions crashing down upon you ...

You’ll find your strength.
You’ll find a resilience you’ve never known.
You’ll find the power you need for the journey of Motherhood ahead.

In the messy humanity of it all,
you’ll find that you are holy.
A portal to the divine.
Capable of indescribable miracles.
A vessel of sacred life.

What if we told women the truth about birth?
We’d have to tell them they are capable of anything.

Worthy of being treated like goddesses.
Made to walk through the flames,
surf the tidal waves,
dive into the underworld
And come out alive.

Not unscathed.
Not unchanged.
But whole
and healed
and ready to take on the world.

If we told women the truth about birth,
we’d have to admit that we’ve lied about everything else,
and that they are more powerful,
more fierce,
more capable,
more beautiful,
than we’ve ever let on.

If we told the truth about birth?
We’d shatter the world.

Words and Art: Catie Atkinson

07/03/2025

To adorable not to post!

https://www.facebook.com/lessonslearnedinlife/videos/691330160172206/?mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v

06/30/2025

Midwives are leaving. Not because the work is too hard. But because the boundaries are too soft.

We aren’t burned out from birth.
We’re burned out from everything around it.

From the student who says she wants to learn but never takes a note, never shows up early, never stays late—and posts selfies instead of questions. The one who isn’t ready, but insists she’s “called.” The one who confuses proximity with preparation.

From the client who ghosted the intake form for six weeks, paid in $40 chunks while shopping for photographers, then got upset when you didn’t jump to respond at 10 p.m.

From the woman who knew you just had a baby—but still asked, “Will you be back by October? I just really want you.”

From the chronic boundary testers. The ones who don’t mean harm—but still text too much, ask too little, book late, pay slow, and expect your availability to remain sacred while they treat it casually.

And you, the midwife, are trying to hold it all with grace.
Trying not to sound harsh.
Trying to be understanding.
Trying to be “accessible.”

But let’s be clear:

> The perception of midwifery has been diluted by this lack of clarity.

You’re not seen as a professional.
You’re seen as the help.
Flexible. Affordable. Personal. Bendable.
And quietly replaceable.

And when you finally crack—when you raise your fee, set your phone to silent, or say “this apprenticeship isn’t working”—you’re the villain.
Cold. Unavailable. Gatekeeping.

But the truth is, you should have said no months ago.

No to the student who isn’t ready.
No to the client who wouldn’t commit.
No to the emotional leakage that slowly turned your schedule into chaos.

Because when we don’t say no, midwifery gets cheapened.
When we let people treat our sacred work like casual service, it affects how every other midwife is perceived.

And it’s not sustainable.

This is why the turnover rate is so high.
This is why midwives disappear.
Not because of birth itself—but because we’re slowly extracted by people who say “I love your care” but don’t actually honor it.

Midwives—listen:

You are not selfish for protecting your time.
You are not rude for releasing a client.
You are not harsh for ending an apprenticeship that drains your spirit.
You are not “money hungry” for charging what this work costs you to hold.

You are the gatekeeper.
And when you forget that, everything spills out.
Not just your time, but your joy.

So tighten the gate.
Say it early.
Say it clearly.
Say it without shame.

Because your calling wasn’t meant to be handed over to indecision, performance, or passive abuse.

It was meant to be guarded.

And if no one else will say it—here’s your reminder:

You can be kind and still be closed.
You can be generous and still charge your full rate.
You can be called and still say:

> “You’re not mine. And I won’t carry what wasn’t assigned to me.”

That’s not unloving.
That’s holy.