OHMI Midwives

03/13/2026

💕Your stories help families find us💕

A new client inquiry today shared that she spent time reading through our Google reviews… and it’s what led her to reach out. 🥹

To every family who has taken the time to share their experience with an online review, “thank you!”. Your words help other parents find their way to the care they’re looking for.

03/13/2026

🚨 Ohio Home Birth Families — We Need Your Voice THIS Week! 🚨

If you support better access to midwives in Ohio, take 5 minutes today to send a short email of support for HB 537. If even half of us send a letter, it could make a huge difference before the next hearing at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus next week.

There is a bill being voted on in Ohio right now that could significantly improve access to midwifery care for families across the state.

➡️HB 537 would:
• Allow midwives to be licensed by the state

• Open the door for insurance coverage for midwifery care

• Allow freestanding birth centers in Ohio

This is a huge step toward expanding safe, family-centered birth options in our state.

Right now lawmakers are accepting written proponent testimony, and they need to hear from families who support access to midwives.

✉️ Submit your testimony to:

info@unitedbirthcoalition.org

📅 Deadline: March 16

If even half of us send a letter, it could make a huge difference before the next hearing at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus next week.

➡️How to write your proponent testimony

The goal is simple: clearly explain who you are, why you support the bill, and why lawmakers should vote for it. It’s usually short, respectful, and personal.

Start by:

• Thanking the committee for their time

• Stating who you are and why this issue matters to you

Explain why the bill matters

Legislators respond strongly to:

• Personal stories

• Real examples

• Practical impact on families

Explain how the bill solves a problem

Focus on:

• Why the current situation in Ohio is lacking

• How HB 537 improves it

• Who it will help

End clearly

Politely urge the committee to support HB 537.

⭐️Tips

• Keep it short (1 page or less)

• Use plain language

• Lead with your story

• Stay respectful and non-confrontational

• Clearly state that you support HB 537

With your help, we are excited to show overwhelming support for midwives and birth options in the capital next week.

03/11/2026

Sweet baby girl… weighing to make sure she’s still gaining, every ounce counts. “You’re doing so great!”

03/09/2026

Local support for nursing parents 💕

03/06/2026

Lovely ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Google Review

03/05/2026

I think this is the earliest I’ve been able to visualize and measure for an early pregnancy confirmation/dating scan.

📣Disclosure: our in-office scans are non-diagnostic and only available for existing clients. We use ultrasound minimally, and when deemed appropriate. In this case, to ease a worried parent’s state of mind.

03/04/2026

OHMI Midwife Shelly Varelli podcast interview.

“This one feels hugely vulnerable to share…

🎙️I recently sat down with Stephen Zenner of Toledo Free Press and the Toledo Works podcast to talk about women’s healthcare and birth work. What I did not expect was how the questions would resemble more of a life-story narrative interview… In our short time together, guided by Stephens gentle nature, I am lead to discuss some intimate details and deeply personal perspectives (I thought we would be discussing birth in Toledo in a broader context): Why/how I became a midwife, my personal birth experiences, career paths, what autonomy in childbirth means to me, and the heart behind supporting women through pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. 💕

If you’re curious about the deeper “why” behind what I do, this conversation captures it well. I hope you enjoy this 30 min interview, while I blush and try to dismiss my inner critic.” 🫣

Here’s the link: https://www.wgte.org/radio/local-podcasts/toledo-works/womens-reproductive-healthcare

🍎https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/toledo-works/id1862564040?i=1000745417689of

03/03/2026

Reiki is such a beautiful, natural gift of healing.

💫 Postpartum Episiotomy Recovery and Perineal Pain💫
A 2024 clinical trial study by Aydemir, Soğukpınar, & Kara looked at the impact of applying the energetic healing of Reiki on episiotomy recovery and perineal pain.

⭐️86 postpartum women were included in the research; (n=40) in the intervention group (receiving Reiki) and (n=46) in the control group (not receiving). 40 women had spontaneous deliveries and non-instrumental births were given 35-40 minutes of Reiki on days 1, 2, and & postpartum. Their pain was assessed on days 1, 2, 7, and 14 postpartum. The group that received Reiki had less pain and less edema by day 14, suggesting their recovery was happening faster.

⭐️The study does not detail how Reiki was administered, likely hovering/hands over the lower pelvic area, using intention to send Reiki to the episiotomy site.

It's great to see clinical studies that support the work we do. 🙌

Aydemir, H., Soğukpınar, N., & Kara, M. (2024). The impact of Reiki practice on episiotomy recovery and perineal pain: A randomized controlled study. African journal of reproductive health, 28(7), 35–46.

03/02/2026

A full day of Neonatal Resuscitation training yesterday with a quick visit to Lake Michigan! Thank you and our hosts at the beautiful

We renew this certification every two years to keep these critical skills sharp and up to date. Preparation is part of providing safe, responsible care, even for the rare moments we hope never come.

Grateful for continued education, new perspectives, and the opportunity to serve families well.

03/02/2026

“This month, we honor the women who paved the way for reproductive autonomy, birth justice, and community-based care.

The ones who held hands, held space, and held the line for future generations.

Birth work has always been women’s work.
Powerful. Sacred. Revolutionary.

We celebrate the past, uplift the present, and protect the future—so every birthing person is supported, informed, and honored.” Motherboard Birth

🤍 Tag a woman who inspires you
🌱 Honor an ancestor whose strength lives on through you
✨ Celebrate the women who make birth safer, kinder, and more humane

03/01/2026

This ⬇️

YOU GUYS!!!! Please understand!!! There are many moms that are NOT candidates for home births! Why in the world would you say you would of died at home if your baby came at 30 weeks????? If a client goes into labor at 30 weeks do you you REALLY think that I would go to their house and help them have that baby????? NO!! They need hospital care! FOR WHICH I AM GRATEFUL FOR!!! OR if a mama called and said she was bleeding heavily and was not in labor, do you REALLY think I would not send her swiftly to the hospital????

Be smart people! In my practice, you must get to 37 weeks gestation and be having a healthy, mostly uneventful pregnancy in order to deliver at home. This page is ran by me, a licensed homebirth midwife. I have rules and regulations that I have to follow....not to mention ethics for crying out loud! I have been doing home birth for 27 years. I DO NOT take chances with the families that hire me and their babies! We make all decisions together so that in the end we can have a home birth!

And guess what else??? Home birth is not the end all be all! Its just not...ok? Is it beautiful and wonderful and awesome when the baby is out and mom is safe and everyone is snuggled in bed?? YYEESSS!!!! But, if we need help, we get it. And THAT is what hospital is for. Sheesh.

02/28/2026

While we love our poolside moments with you… we’re equally excited to be OFF CALL for two whole weeks! 💕

Time to rest and recharge. 💕
Your OHMI Midwives, Shelly, Lisa & Amber