No Place Like Home Birth

12/25/2025

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you the sweetest times with your families ❤️
Enjoy those babies ❤️

With warm winter wishes, Midwife Ashley

12/23/2025

Another sweet, wiggly baby ❤️

This little girl was so active while I drew her 🥰

12/23/2025

I must confess that Christmastime births are my favorite 🤫🤩🎄

Actually, Christmastime is my favorite time to begin with, so it only makes sense that I find Christmas births extra magical ❤️

It’s been a busy time for No Place Like Home Birth this month! Two beautiful births already and expecting one or two more before the month ends, and I am here for it 🙌 Can’t wait to support these moms and welcome these babies 🥰

With joy, midwife Ashley ❤️

12/13/2025

To push or not to push?

This topic has been a reoccurring theme in the past couple of weeks, on my mind at the last birth I attended, then popping up again and again in conversations with local birth workers about their experiences.

“Breathing your baby out” is not unrealistic, women do let their body use the fetal ejection reflex to push while they just breathe and birth their baby. BUT, it is not one size fits all, AND it is not “better” or the “perfect birth” because someone never actively engaged in pushing.

MOST women in the home birth setting will get an uncontrollable fetal ejection reflex that starts involuntarily pushing. Not ALL women. My mother is a prime example, she had 6 home births and maybe felt that once.

Feeling an urge to push is your body telling you something. We, as midwifery care providers, don’t want you to start pushing too early and get exhausted. But also, if your cervix is wide open and your body is telling you it’s time to push this baby out, your body is asking for your participation! Refusing to participate is ignoring your body’s wisdom and fighting against it instead. If your mind is saying “My body is telling me to push, but the social media influencer told me to just breathe and not to push” then you are listening to a social media influencer and not the innate wisdom of your body to birth your baby.

The truth is, most women will beautifully and intuitively engage with their body and actively push when they need to when not influenced by outside voices telling them not to. Intuitive pushing is what I love to see. A mom who is listening to and engaged with her body in this beautiful process. This is not purple pushing or the breath holding and counting to ten (which does on have a place for some women, but not commonly).

When the baby is crowning, that is a good time to have encouragement to slow down and breathe, hand on your baby’s head, to have a very gentle delivery and reduce tearing.

The question is not to push or not to push, but rather, are you willing to trust and engage with the wisdom of your body in this incredible process of birth?

12/10/2025

More belly mapping 🤰

This baby was rather tricky to map out, but I think we got him or her figured out pretty well, considering 😊 Big sister and big brother picked the colors ❤️

12/06/2025

The birth where the big siblings sang Happy Birthday 🎶

This birth was so beautifully captured ❤️
Every prenatal visit big sister would want to play with the baby doll in my bag and big brother asked for the pelvis and placenta model 😊 When it was labor time, my client labored around the house and outside gracefully while big siblings watched on as this normal process unfolded.

This tricky 3rd baby decided to be ALL wrapped up in his cord with a hand up, but his mom was strong and this midwife was ready to lend a helping hand when needed. He was assisted in transitioning right where he was supposed to be, on mom’s chest ❤️

Postpartum was filled with sweetness as big brother and big sister were invited back in to meet baby ☺️ Big brother got the special job of cutting the cord and they sang Happy Birthday to little brother ❤️ So peaceful, so perfect.

What a joy to serve this family 🥰 And I get so much delight from sibling participation ❤️

Photo credit:
Special thanks to my lovely birth assistants: and ❤️

Photos and caption shared with client’s permission, as always!

11/19/2025

I love these prenatal visits ❤️

Two moms, both expecting babies soon.

One new, one experienced.

One quietly listening to her baby’s heartbeat through the fetoscope with her husband, one being crawled on by her children while her midwife does belly mapping.

Both moms chose the same purple color for their babies 💜. Both babies were in very similar positions. Both have anterior placentas.

Two moms, two smiles enjoying seeing a picture of their babies emerge colorfully on their bellies 😁

One midwife, enjoying long prenatal visits. Enjoying both the quiet and the chaos. Enjoying meeting moms in their space, where they’re at. Enjoying finding those tiny little feet. Enjoying drawing colorful little babies 🥰

11/14/2025

So much sweetness at our last postpartum visit 💕

Always plenty of time to assess you and baby, talk through practicals, and reminisce about our time together! Seeing how much your baby has grown and changed in just a few short weeks… Discussing what the future may look like and providing resources to make your path a little smoother… Always hoping for a ‘see you later’ instead of a ‘goodbye’ because you (my clients) are my favorite part of being a midwife 💗

11/08/2025

Looking forward to providing this opportunity for my clients and our community! Elizabeth is so knowledgeable!

Thanks for letting us use your space!

11/04/2025

Came up on my memories and I had to share!

When you have a newborn, you're so often asked "are they a good baby?".

Well, what is a good baby? One that doesn't swear, fight and get in trouble with the law we'd say!

Babies have been tucked up warm and snuggly in your tummy for 9 months, when they arrive they may be overwhelmed and want cuddling and fuss when learning to feed (read up on the fourth trimester!). This does NOT make them a bad baby, this is all normal behaviour!

So unless your baby is committing fraud from their bedside crib or joy riding your car, please do not label them 'bad' and just enjoy those snuggles!

10/18/2025

Availability and a surprise ✨🎉

Yes, April will begin my maternity leave with my own little peanut 💙 I will not be taking due dates during my maternity leave, but anyone due after my leave can still expect regular and thorough prenatal visits with me or other skilled and trusted women who will be pitching in as I recover 😊

This little peanut has tagged along to several births so far, and I expect will continue to until my last client births when we are 36 weeks gestation or so like my other babies did ❤️ We are all in and ready to continue serving you excellently! Expect no less.

It is ever my joy to serve you, even as I grow my own baby 🥰 Thank you for all your love and support!