Some updates after a long hiatus.

So, I have clearly not been keeping up with my posts here over the last few years.  There was so much change going on, I didn’t know where I was going to land.  I am now finished with the clinical portion of my midwifery studies at MLL.  I have relocated back to my hometown of Oakland, CA.  I am working again as a RN in the job I dreamed up for myself while at MLL.  No, really.  On New Years Eve of 2015-2016 I created a vision board, one of my NYE rituals, and on it I included two scraps of paper from an ad for SF General Hospital.  SFGH was the one place I could imagine re-entering my nursing profession, and training as a Perinatal RN.  Why is SFGH so special?

• It is a birth center in a community hospital with 24 hour midwifery care specializing in normal birth.
• A teaching hospital where the staff MDs are all faculty at UCSF, and do shift work instead of being on call, meaning they are in-house and engaged in patient care 24/7.
• Provides compassionate evidence-based care primarily to underserved populations, most on Medi-Cal, Medicare or uninsured.  We provide care for medically high-risk patients and folks with very complicated psycho-social backgrounds.
• Baby Friendly designation means exclusive breast feeding is strongly encouraged and supported
• Very low c-section rates, impressive especially with the highly complex patient population we serve
• Providers who are skilled in vaginal delivery of twins and breech presentations
• 24/7 free volunteer doula program for labor and postpartum
• AND it’s also set in a beautiful new state-of-the-art building, with private rooms, and gorgeous artwork all over.  I think our patients are really lucky 🙂

So, yeah, I love it here.  I couldn’t imagine doing hospital work anywhere else.

That being said, I am still working towards my travel midwifery career.  This current position has given me so much extra training in managing high-risk situations for mom and baby, tons of lactation experience and a great understanding of hospital policies and best-practices.  It has also provided me the financial security to finally pay off my student loans and obtain a level of freedom that will enable me to do what I really am passionate about down the line…It’s all in the works folks.  Patience has been a great teacher this year.

I continue to foster relationships with other midwives and have some exciting developments lining up for later in 2019.

In my time off I have been traveling a lot to the coast of Nayarit and Jalisco MX, surfing, being barefoot, sailing, adventuring, doing yoga and really working on some deep healing that needed to happen after the tumultuous last few years that involved a breakup, a major move (leaving an entire life and business behind in another country), a very demanding midwifery residency and then a new job.   I feel so much closer to my true path these days.  Having just returned from a beautiful month off, I am deeply renewed and re-invigorated.  My next steps feel stronger and clearer.  I am truly thrilled for what comes next.