Today we’d like to introduce you to Rachel Harris.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Rachel. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I’m a homeschooled girl. I have planned on being a nurse since I was three years old and got a nurse’s kit for Christmas. Homebirth is in my family; my mother has had four children at home. My sister just had her second homebirth in June 2017. My mother had her first homebirth and my fifth sibling when I was thirteen. I decided I would become a nurse first and then a midwife. When I was sixteen I got to catch my third brother.
When I was nineteen, I was in my last stretch of clinicals for my BSN. I saw a lady (no history of C-section) being induced to prevent her baby from being large. This is not supported by ACOG, but is a common practice. This was not her first baby; she had had other babies weight over 9 lbs. She suffered a uterine rupture, a known problem with Pitocin induction, and her baby passed away. She lost her uterus. The same month my little sister was born peacefully at home in the water weighing 9lbs 0 oz.
At the time of my sister’s birth, I was doing a project on homebirth at the time. It struck me when I was interviewing a physician who had done homebirth and he said, “First, do no harm” was one of his guiding principles. I was also struck by how another doctor in his practice had come to provide home birth services. His wife had begged him to find someone to deliver him at home. They felt blessed by God, and he wanted to share their blessing with others. Four years later, I was asked to assist at the birth of one of my friends. She had an unlicensed midwife I had never met. Many ladies who have homebirths in Illinois end up using an “underground” midwife because few certified nurse midwives practice outside the hospital.
While legal in 32 states, Illinois doesn’t license CPMS. CPMS are certified professional midwives who generally practice in homes and birth centers. Unfortunately, many southern Illinois women are not serviced by CNMS who provide homebirth. My friend tore extensively.
The woman didn’t offer suturing. While I urged her to go to ER, my friend chose to believe the midwife’s advice that the tear would heal well naturally. It didn’t heal well. I realized someone had to go to school to offer legal midwifery services in the southern suburbs of Chicago. I went to the University of Illinois at Chicago for my MSN. I got certified as a nurse midwife in 2015.
I began working with Genesis Family Midwifery in St Charles to prepare myself to offer home birth when that practice would close. In 2016, I felt called by God to start my own practice. I would share my family’s blessing of homebirth, first doing no harm, and have skills in case of emergency. I incorporated as MidwivesCare, LLC. Now I have another midwife working with me, Monica Staszel. She had her own home birth with me in April 2017.
Has it been a smooth road?
I did not go into midwifery school hoping to build a practice from scratch and own it. But there were no practices servicing the southern suburbs. And so, I reached out to the homebirth CNMS of Illinois and to Dr. White, an MD who offers homebirth services. I learned about health-sharing vs insurance. I learned which lab had great service for homebirth midwives, which malpractice insurances would cover homebirth midwives, and where to buy my supplies. I’ve learned a lot as I’ve gone. I have been fortunate to have good mentorship and understanding professional services. I’ve learned to be humble and say ” I haven’t started a practice before; please instruct me on how to use this software, submit this claim, etc” I have learned to never skip the home visit or you may be surprised at the state of the home!
And I have carried over from nursing my ability to support my ladies who suffer a pregnancy loss or must transfer their care.
When you and the family have been planning a homebirth tailored to their family, it is the death of a dream when that plan ends. When it’s good, midwifery is really good, but when it’s bad, it’s really bad. I remember that I have been called by God to serve the home birthing families who wouldn’t otherwise have a certified nurse midwife. I remember that each family I serve has been brought to me for a purpose.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the MidwivesCare story. Tell us more about the business.
MidwivesCare, LLC provides homebirth and home lactation services to families. We provide the lactation services even to families that did not birth with us. Currently we are based in New Lenox and occasionally use an Orland Park office. There are plans in the works to work with the OhBaby Coop in Lockport. My New Lenox office is out of my home. I have a room in my basement large enough for a queen size bed, exam table, lab supplies, and shelves for my lending library of educational books. They are a group of doulas, birth photographers and other pregnancy family centered services. I am most proud of how offering homebirth to these families is good for their older children. It is good for them to see birth as a natural thing. It’s good for them to see a woman’s strength and a man’s love bringing a new person into the world. I love when the kids have been sleeping, and they wake up just as you finish the postpartum care and are leaving. It’s like Christmas.
What sets me apart from other homebirth providers is probably my massage with Spinning Babies elements at 38 weeks. I don’t know of any other homebirth nurse midwives providing that service, complementary, to their clients. I wanted to get to know my ladies through touch before they were in labor. I want to know what they like and don’t like. They always are very relaxed when we are done; often if they had back pain it’s gone after the massage. Another thing that sets me apart is my lack of receptionist. Monica and I do our own communications.
When patients call, they get one of the midwives. Patients get access to our personal cell phone numbers and can call or text with questions any time.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
I believe that as advanced practice nurses gain more independence from the written collaborative agreement, we will see more certified nurse midwives choosing to offer homebirth services. Also, with 32 states currently allowing CPMs to practice, I think we will see more partnerships with CPMs. The women of Illinois are demanding CPMs be able to serve them. Many CNMs want to work with them. The future of Illinois homebirth will someday include practices where CNMs and CPMs practice to the full scope of their abilities.
Illinois homebirth families will have more access to care. Children will be born into their families’ homes supported by skilled professionals. And girls, seeing their mothers supported at home, will choose to become midwives as I did.
Pricing:
- $4000-4500 global fee (deductions available for financial need).
Contact Info:
- Address: 841 Buckboard Drive, New Lenox, IL 60451
- Website: midwivescare.org
- Phone: 815-269-4344
- Email: rachel@midwivescare.org
- Instagram: midwivescarellc
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/midwivescarellc/
- Twitter: @midwivescareLlc
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/midwivescare-new-lenox
Image Credit:
Rachel Harris
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