Brookhaven Natural Birth Center

Misty Ward - Certified Professional Midwife29-Jun-2011

Misty Ward, Certified Professional Midwife

I began my path to midwifery at the age of 16 after attending the birth of my nephew. When I was supposed to be doing my algebra homework I was reading pregnancy related books! For Christmas 2000 my dear friend Melaine Copeland gave me a copy of Spiritual Midwifery by Ina May Gaskin. I was immediately hooked and knew that midwifery outside of the hospital was where I belonged.

Soon after, I began my midwifery studies while also completing my bachelors degree at Eastern Mennonite University, getting married, and giving birth to my own two children! Those were busy years and so very precious. 

I am the regional representative for Commonwealth Midwives Alliance.

Heather Brown Office Manager and Birth Assistant28-Jun-2011

I am Brookhavens office manager as well as the birth assistant to our midwife, Misty. I stay current in CPR and NNR along with attending specilaized workshops as often as possible to ensure safety and to better serve our clients. I am a Harrisonburg native and currenlty live in Rockingham County with my wonderful husband and two super busy boys. I decided to become a part of Brookhaven Womens Health &  Natural Birth Center stemming from from my own birth experiences and desire for a more natural pregnancy and delivery. I knew from the moment I discovered I was pregnant with both of my children that I would hire a midwife and wanted no drugs or intervention during delivery. There were no birth centers in this area at that time and I hadnt heard of home birth being an option so off to the hospital I went. Both of my pregnancies and deliveries were very different. After laboring for 8 hours with my first son the midwife declared herself exhausted and called in an OB to perform a vacuum extraction. With my second son I was in the hospital just a little over an hour when I had the overwhelming urge to push, only to be told by my midwife that "I hadn't been there long enough, there was no way I was ready to push". Needless to say I delivered an almost 10lb boy shortly afterwards. Of course I had what would be considered natural by today's standards, I still felt somehow robbed of birthing the way I wanted to, in the position I wanted (who knew you could have a baby without laying flat on your back!) or in water, or at your own pace?! Those options, along with many others, are the reasons I feel blessed to have the honor of helping families achieve the birth experiences that they desire.

Gina Clowes - Apprentice Midwife and Doula10-Jun-2011

I grew up on a small farm where birth was a regular part of life. My earliest impressions come from a variety of farm animals who birthed peacefully in secluded places of their choice. The only poor outcome that I remember is a birth in which many neighborhood kids came to observe the event; the goat labored for a long time and the baby died. In addition to these early experiences, I am the second of nine kids, all born at home, so I learned from the start that birth is normal and that the fear ingrained in today's culture surrounding birth is unfounded. The first human birth I witnessed was when I was ten and my baby sister came into the world, happy and healthy, in the bath tub. 
  
After my first baby was born at home in 2009, I became a DONA certified doula and began attending women in the hospital. Birth was entirely different than the birth I'd grown up loving! I soon realized that home/natural birth is the best option and decided to pursue the undeniable calling to midwifery. I have since been studying at Virginia School of Traditional Midwifery in addition to apprenticing at Brookhaven. I have completed my CPR certification and Neonatal Resuscitation Program.
 
I myself have given birth to two sweet babies - the first born at home, and the second born at the hospital due to a rare congenital heart defect in the baby, which took her life soon after. Both experiences have left me even more in awe of the design with which we were created. The tragedy of losing an infant has left me even happier for those whose babies are born safely, and I hope to be a stronger, more compassionate midwife for it someday.