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Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been tagged as “waterbirth”

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 …

I made the decision to switch from an OB to a midwife at 20 weeks because I was determined to receive personalized and gentle care, and that is exactly what I received from Ash! I never once felt rushed during any visit, she answered all of my questions professionally and unbiasedly. Ash was incredible throughout our home birth... Calm, patient, and supportive. I appreciated her extensive knowledge and techniques, and her unique combination of classic midwifery and modern medicine. If you are searching for an intelligent and encouraging midwife, Ash is your gal.

Kasey Eames
2/08/2017
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 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
Ash was my midwife for both of my children, and if I have a third I would choose her again in an instant. I have never in my life received medical care like what Ash provides.

I had known for a long time I wanted to have a home birth, so when I found out I was pregnant with my first, I started my search for a midwife. I chose Ash because of her approach to midwifery as a mix of modern medicine and homeopathy. She is respectful of her patient's choices for prenatal, labor, and postpartum care, and provides thorough knowledge to help her pateint reach the decision best for them.

A big reason I wanted to go with midwifery was the attention to care. I wanted to get to know the person who would deliver my baby, and feel safe and trusted in their hands. Ash exceeded all my hopes for a midwife. Each prenatal visit is spent entirely with her, instead of rotating nurses/OBs. The prenatal visit is long enough for you to ask ample questions and go over any concerns or worries. I never once felt rushed or like my concerns were unimportant. I have a history of being dismissed by doctors when I had valid fears, and Ash really helped heal a lot of that past trauma through her dedication to my prenatal care.

During both of my labors, she provided excellent support and gentle care when I was most vulnerable. Both of my deliveries were not entirely smooth and Ash handled the issues quickly and expertly.

Ash is a wonderful midwife who I would reccomend to any pregnant person. She really goes above and beyond and truly cares for her patients!

Aja Burns
7/28/2022
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

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.