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Waterbirth- Nature’s Epidural?

AE Johnsdottir June 11, 2015 Corvallis Midwife Blog Leave a Comment

Have you ever gotten into a hot bath or jacuzzi after a vigorous workout? If you have, you probably remember how the water soothed your aching muscles and melted away any tension that you felt. Giving birth is a lot like a vigorous workout, and the pain (sometimes) experienced in both is the result of your healthy muscles working hard! Numerous studies …

We feel so lucky to have had Ash as our midwife. It was my first pregnancy so we appreciated that she would spend at least an hour with us during each appointment answering all our questions. If she didn't know an answer she would openly admit it and then walk us through her logical, evidence based suggestion. Once on our way home after an appointment my husband voiced a worry that he had. I texted Ash about his concern and she immediately called us. Not because it was an emergency but because she wanted to ease his worry right away. She took the time to walk us through the evidence as to why it likely wasn't a concern and even offered that we could turn around and come back to do a stress test if it would ensure that we could be completely at peace from worry that evening. After each interaction with Ash our excitement in having her on our 'birth team' grew.

The home birth was beautiful and Ash's patience and expertise made it all go smoothly and peacefully.

Our postpartum period was very difficult due to nursing issues and Ash was the only medical provider that was recognizing that there was an issue. She checked in with us multiple times and even let us know that, while our contract had us ending care with her at 6 weeks postpartum, she would work with us as long as needed, until we got through our difficulties.

She went above and beyond to give us professional, compassionate care, time and time again. You get a sense of that right away from her client handbook. It's full of science based information for all the stages of pregnancy but in a book beautiful enough to be a scrapbook. She seems the perfect mix of very science based meets herbal/alternative medicine. If we become pregnant again we would have Ash as our midwife without hesitation and we would highly recommend her!

Jami Ivory
9/22/2021
Ash was an absolutely wonderful doula. She supported me before, during and after my baby's birth by meeting with me to work out my birth plan, attending an appointment with me, answering any questions that I had from her strong knowledge base, and helping me to stay grounded and focused during labor for my successful unmedicated VBAC. She shared excellent resources with me including a binder of birthing and postpartum info and websites with current research to help me make decisions. She always responded right away to any communications and got to the hospital very fast when my labor was moving at lightning speed. She stopped by for her postpartum visit and jumped in to doing chores around the house. She was both friendly and professional. I would highly recommend her doula services and imagine that she is an excellent midwife as well.

Emmy Woessner
1/21/2016
We chose to have a home birth for our third baby, and could not have made a better decision going with Willamette Birth! I never thought a birth experience would leave me feeling so empowered and whole. My previous two births took place in a hospital, and when we found out we were having a third, it felt like the perfect opportunity to get the healing birth experience I deeply wanted. We transferred to Ash’s care just before the third trimester, so we did not get to walk through the early prenatal appointments together. Nonetheless, Ash treated my partner and I with so much respect, and took extra time with us to answer questions and explain things. Ash offered new perspectives, shared research and evidence based information, and helped me process and make sense of my previous prenatal and childbirth experiences. She is a great listener, and makes no assumptions about what I wanted or what I knew/didn’t know about pregnancy and childbirth. Ash brings a depth of knowledge with so much passion. Her confidence and experience increased my own confidence in my body’s ability to do something incredible. Every time we walked away from our prenatal appointments, my partner and I had a new energy and confidence in our decision. Our excitement and anticipation grew and grew after every appointment.

My partner was an incredible birth partner for our previous children, and Ash complimented our dynamic perfectly. She read the room, and supported at all the right moments to help me progress. Ash allowed my partner and I to share this incredibly intimate process, but knew when to step in, creating a really great balance. I think it's really special that she is able to carry so much knowledge in an area, and still trusted me as the expert with my body.

One thing that really stood out to me was how Ash would ask permission to do anything related to my body. I think I had grown so accustomed to relying on medical professionals to do whatever they deemed necessary, but learning how to trust my body, listen to myself, and be in charge of what I needed was one of the most empowering experiences I’ve ever had. She allowed that growth for me, and there are not enough stars in a review that can thank her enough for giving me that gift. Ash is a talented and knowledgeable midwife, but she also has a depth of skills that can’t be learned from books. She is gentle, caring, genuine and safe, and choosing her for our home birth helped us achieve so much more than the birth of our sweet baby – it gave us this beautiful life experience that we can be proud of and cherish forever.

Billie Cannon
12/16/2021
As a first time mother choosing Ash as a midwife was the best decision I made during my early pregnancy. She is very knowledgeable in all stages: pregnancy, delivery and post-partum. Before I found Ash I had three appointments with my OBGYN. In my first appointment with Ash I learned more about my pregnancy than I had during all my previous OBGYN visits. Ash provides a comprehensive Handbook covering everything from pregnancy to child-birth and post-partum. I found this extremely useful and informative. At all times during Ash’s care I felt safe and confident in her skills and knowledge trusting in her ability to provide the best care possible, which she did. I could not imagine going through my birth without Ash as my Mid-wife, she empowered me, giving me the best possible birth imaginable!
I highly recommend Ash Johnsdottir!

Aubree Minten
7/15/2016
Ash is such a great midwife! She made me feel secure and knowledgeable about our home birth. She also adapted very well to my family's needs and performed her services up and above the standard midwife. 10/10! See you next time!

James Lewis
7/12/2016

Willamette Birth Ash Johnsdottir, MIDWIFE Serving the greater Willamette Valley.

Call 541.908.9188 to talk about midwifery care or submit this form to ask a question or request a consultation with midwife Ash Johnsdottir, BSM CPM LDM.