Acorn Community Birth and Wellness Center

12/02/2025

Dearest Community,

This Giving Tuesday, we have a special request. We have never had to ask the greater community for help in funding our birth center. But we find ourselves in a special situation. Our HVAC unit of almost 20 years has finally died. And we are asking for help to raise the funds to cover the costs of a new one. This is an ESSENTIAL piece of equipment that keeps our families cool in our birth rooms while laboring hard, it keeps the clinic cool in ever-increasing summer temperatures, and it heats the rooms so that our newborns remain unstressed, peaceful, and comfortable. We cannot function adequately or safely without it, and it will be a hefty $30,000 to replace. So we ask from the bottom of our hearts to give what you can to a birth center that has given so much to preserve the dignity, sanctity, and ceremony of community birth. Because we all deserve that.

Support a birth center committed to providing comfort, compassion, and dignity to all

11/09/2025

WE ARE BACK!!!
Welcome to our newest little Acorn Aydah Lou, born 11/6/2025 in a beautiful, quick home birth! 7 lbs 1 oz, she has us all head over heels in Love with her!!! Mama is a successful VBAC, daddy caught her in the water! 🩷 You all did great!

10/14/2025

If you need to renew your BLS for your profession, then please join us locally!

10/11/2025

Childbirth classes are back at Acorn! We are partnering with El Nido Birth and Family Ministries to offer AFFORDABLE childbirth classes for the community!!! Ideal for first-time parents, those attempting a vaginal birth after Cesarean, and hospital and home birthers alike!

09/24/2025

Now introducing one of our newest midwives to the community! Debbie Eakes LM, CPM comes to us from a very rural home birth practice in Minnesota and South Dakota. Originally from Chula Vista, she is returning to San Diego in order to be closer to her family and parents. She has been a community midwife for almost 20 years, and has experience serving families in Amish, Hutterite, and Mennonite communities, as well as attending breeches, twins, and VBACs. Along with her husband and in honor of her grandparents, she founded the nonprofit El Nido Birth and Family Ministries, which provides resources and childbirth education to families free of cost. Her passion is to build relationships and strong partnerships steeped in communication. Look for our posting of her childbirth education classes to begin in the next couple of months!
Fun Fact: her grandson is older than her youngest daughter, and actually attended her home birth!

09/08/2025

We would love to re-introduce our smallest but mightiest midwife, Sedona!

Sedona is an ardent and dedicated midwife who focuses on individualized care and connection with her clients. She graduated in the last class of the Nizhoni Institute of Midwifery and became a Licensed Midwife in 2023 after having apprenticed with Acorn Birth Center for her clinical skills. Having done this through the COVID pandemic, she saw many new families that were introduced to midwifery care who sought refuge in Acorn Birth Center during those trying times. Witnessing mothers having their babies in the way they felt safest and supported, while midwives and students were called to expand in shepherding the transition of care in such erratic times, laid the foundation for her trust in the birth process and call to service. After supporting hundreds of births and well over a thousand families through Acorn, she couldn't imagine life any other way!
Fun Fact: Sedona has a Bachelor's degree in BioPhysics! She can also play guitar and sing, but only when no one else can hear!

09/03/2025

As we approach being fully on-call and full-time in the clinic, we thought it would be a good time to reintroduce our wonderful staff, midwives, and students to the community, starting with our esteemed leader, Cristi!

Cristi Lewis LM, CPM has been a midwife for 10 years and 1000+ babies! She founded Acorn Community Birth and Wellness Center with Karen Pecora LM, CPM in 2016 as a legacy for Karen's midwifery practice and as a way to be able to offer midwifery care to low-income and Medi-Cal families in California. Cristi birthed her 2 children at home with midwives, and considers her profession as a sacred calling that is here to help families "re-remember" what community birth and the normal physiological process looks like. She has trained more than 35 student midwives in her career, and continues to help support the growth of the midwifery profession by offering her center as a place of learning for the midwifery community. She is currently completing her training as a Trauma-Informed Health Care Provider, is bilingual in Spanish and English, loves her chickens and her garden, and has really enjoyed sleeping out under the stars as much as possible this summer during her sabbatical!
Fun Fact: Cristi does not like cucumbers.

08/12/2025

HUGE shout out to Rhea Lana's of Temecula Valley, CA for their amazing consignment events! Do you know they have a charitable program that donates items to foster homes, military families, and organizations that serve babies and families? We are so lucky to be part of this program! Because of their generosity, our families never have to worry about lacking for the essentials for their new baby! We were able to stock up for the cold season to come!
Soon we will be announcing our new Donation Station inside our birth center, where our community can come to get essentials like diapers, newborn clothes, strollers, and more! Exciting things to come!😁

06/21/2025

The moment you all have been waiting for is here! We are now accepting clients for due dates in 2026!!! Please see our website for more info. Spaces are limited, so please register early in your pregnancy!

05/11/2025

For all the mothers we are, all the mothers we've lost, all the mothers we want to be, all the mothers we witness and support and love. We hope your day is everything you need it to be 🩷

05/05/2025

Happy International Day of the Midwife!!! We are so so proud to have provided our community with quality Midwifery care for 9 years!

Want to do something today to help our community continue to improve? Take our survey! Even if you haven't had care with us, your opinions about maternity care in general can help us implement programs that benefit everyone!
www.surveymonkey.com/r/79NMFRH

02/20/2025

This little surprise girl arrived this morning with the sunrise to officially be our last baby before our sabbatical! Her sister before her was also the first baby to be born in the Sun Room when our new location opened! This family has blessed our practice with their trust, faith, and love, and it feels perfect to end on this wonderful note ❤️