Wood River Midwifery

04/30/2026

Welcome baby Alexander! You are perfect. The sweetest April blossom 🌼 I can’t wait to see who you become! Congratulations to first time parents Lizeth and Carson 💕

04/25/2026

“The birth of my 1st son was incredibly difficult. Three days of labor on my back, hardly ever being allowed to move, eat or hydrate all by a Doctor who chastised me for calling him in the middle of the night. It ended in an ‘emergency’ C-section. And while at the time I knew that my body was capable of more than it was being allowed to do, I had to acknowledge the fear that prevented me from advocating for myself.

Seven years later, I proved to myself that I was right. My body was capable of so much more when allowed to be free, to move as it needed to move and to do the things it naturally knew how to do. A VBAC at home with Erin completely transformed everything I had known about the powerful instincts and abilities of a woman in labor. In those few short hours that it took for me to bring my Sean into this world I discovered that by advocating for myself, I had learned what I was truly capable of; a realization that has continued to shape these last 18 years.”

🔥This woman became a warrior. She prepared to give birth again, in a new way, in her full power. In her full surrender. Embracing the deep dark depths of the unknown 🙌🏽 She emerged anew, transformed through the emergence of this beautiful cub!

Happy 18th Birthday Sean! 💫 ♥️

04/22/2026

Interesting... "Third-trimester pineapple consumption was associated with improved cervical ripening, shorter labor duration, and higher rates of spontaneous vaginal delivery without adverse neonatal outcomes. These findings support further investigation of dietary influences on labor outcomes."
https://journals.lww.com/md-journal/fulltext/2026/04170/the_impact_of_pineapple_consumption_on_cervical.18.aspx

04/13/2026

I am proud of what this class has evolved into. Not only is it an opportunity to sit with other women and men at the threshold of welcoming a baby, it is a rare opportunity these days to return to a more primal, more feminine, more love-centered way of learning about babies and the delicate months after birth.

Actually, this class would benefit anyone planning to have a baby, wherever you’re at in the process. (Perhaps I’ll offer this in the future as a preconception parenting class?)

For now, I hope you’ll join us!

Next round will likely be in late august or September.

04/04/2026

We welcomed two little girls in the last two weeks! Hazel and Etolin, you are so loved!

03/14/2026

Birth class with Paige

Mondays: April 20, 27 and May 4, 11 and 18

I will also likely offer another Sacred Window Primal Postpartum series in early May.

03/10/2026

This lil babe followed his own time and rhythm, to be born in the way that was just right for him! Welcome Baby Ryder!

Congratulations Kylee and Tyler! 🎉💕🙌🏽

03/06/2026

Makes more sense than current rec’s.

🚨 Recent research is challenging the CDC's strict guidelines on breast milk storage—especially for partially used bottles after feeding.

The CDC currently recommends using or discarding leftover breast milk within 1–2 hours after a baby finishes feeding from the bottle, to limit bacterial risks.

A 2026 German study (preprint on medRxiv, with 44 healthy full-term infants) tested this directly by measuring bacterial growth in leftover human milk after actual bottle feeds.

Main findings:

• Bacterial levels rose after feeding due to contact with the baby's mouth, but showed no meaningful further increase at 4 hours or 8 hours—whether kept at room temperature (~20°C) or refrigerated (4°C).

• Significant growth appeared only after 24 hours at room temperature.

• Refrigerated leftover milk stayed low-risk and stable for up to 24 hours.

For healthy, full-term babies, this suggests it's generally safe to:

• Refrigerate a partially used bottle and reuse it within 24 hours, or

• Leave it at room temperature for up to 8 hours when needed.

Unused pumped milk also proved more stable than the CDC's 4-hour room-temperature rule, with very little bacterial growth even up to 24 hours in many cases, consistent with other recent studies.

The current guidelines are understandably cautious, especially for preterm infants, NICU babies, or those with health issues, who should stick to stricter rules and check with a doctor.

For most parents with healthy babies, though, this new evidence provides real relief: less wasted breast milk, fewer stressful discards, and guidelines that better match actual safety data and everyday feeding life.

🔗 Full preprint: https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.02.13.26346179v1.full-text

02/13/2026

02/04/2026

100%
And movement. Just as important.

01/29/2026

Most new parents come home with a baby that they do not understand, and often do not feel connected to.

I am 30 years into witnessing women and families in the birth and postpartum process. For many reasons, American society is not centered around nurturing and nourishing mothers and the next generation of humans.

We’re not around birth and babies the way we used to be. We don’t observe what the normal postpartum continuum looks like, or even know what the the everyday presence of babies feels like we unless grew up in a family with lots of children, are a stay at home mom, or come from a culture that welcomes babies and breastfeeding.

This class will help new parents understand:

🌀How your postpartum time is rich, unpredictable, and instrumental in your long term health��🧠How your baby is wired + what they need and want

💕How to meet your baby’s cardinal, non-negotiable needs, with ease and tenderness

🧠How your new mother brain is re-wiring itself and why it matters for you and your baby AND for the benefit of our species

🏠How to structure your new life to meet your primal and non-negotiable needs

🧠How the dad’s brain is being re-wired, and how to awaken his heart to connection, joy, and confidence in caretaking the new family unit

🤱Milk magic + Breastfeeding realities

🤱How the early days create the template for your long-term milk supply and the importance of early intervention with breastfeeding challenges

🎢How to roll with the normal ups and downs of your new life, heart, identity, and body (greatly reduce the likelihood of postpartum depression and anxiety)

💤 Why we need to re-frame infant sleep and prioritize deep rest and repair as the foundation for family health �
📝The importance of creating a postpartum support plan with all your community resources

🦠Microbiomes, Stuff you need/stuff you don’t, SIDS, and so much more!

Please use this link to register:

https://woodrivermidwifery.as.me/?appointmentType=88029494

I will likely offer this class again in May if you have a summer due date.

01/26/2026

Why?

🪆Because YOU are more than a set of hormones. Your experience of your body is more than the sum of your hormones. You are not a recipe. Lab tests show us one slice of the pie.

🕰️ Because hormones fluctuate all the time, day to day, especially in the years before menopause. It is meant to be a time of flux. This is normal.

📉 Because when the tests come back very low, which they often do, women panic or go into despair. “Deficiency” mindset takes over. Women feel worse.

🙆🏼‍♀️ Because I counsel and treat the woman in front of me— not the labs. The plant medicines I choose, the sleep and nutrition, the routines I want to help you prioritize and actually do — they are based on your body, your emotions, your spirit, your constitution and will not change based on what the paper says.

💰Because hormone lab testing marketed to women over 35+ is intended to secure them as long-term consumers of labs, supplements and drugs. This is a marketing game, via scare tactics. And because my experience in the functional medicine world only confirms this. I don’t play that game. You are not a profit margin to me.

🦋 Because menopause is a portal, not a pathology. Perimenopause is like a second adolescence, it’s a big wild ride, a journey to discovering the new you. Because my wish for all women feeling the heat is to feel some space, some pause, some breathing room to consider their self-care and medical care choices outside the nefarious menopause market and the current medicalized menopause vortex of our time.

💥Because if you do choose to use HRT, there is no medical basis for using labs to inform treatment. Treatment is based on symptoms and time, not tests.