Who are the people who walk through this door, settle in on the couch, feel the HeartSpace vibe, and decide that this is where they belong?

There is no one “type” but there is certainly a common thread. That thread is faith: faith in the process, faith in themselves, faith in growth, faith in the ability to learn. This is not necessarily the norm in the world as a whole. Home birth and midwifery in general attract people who want something different than mainstream offerings. HeartSpace in particular attracts those who are ready to step into a deeper trust of themselves.

We are not the midwives who are necessarily going to coddle or foster dependence. We tend to attract women who are ready to challenge themselves to stand solidly in their beliefs, whether they are conscious of it or not. We have certainly had clients who signed on even though they still had some anxiety about what lay ahead. But, by the time labor rolled around they were solid in their conviction that they had made all the right choices and were ready to welcome the process of bringing a baby into the world on their own terms. This evolution is my favorite part of this work: watching doubt transform into faith.

This doesn’t mean that there’s aren’t glitches along the way. Everyone experiences moments of doubt, times of fear, occasional anxiety. All of that is part of the journey.

In every consult, we say that we are not the ones who takes care of the client’s pregnancy. We are merely guides, resources, someone who checks in. The client is the one doing her own care. The woman carrying the baby is her own primary care provider; she makes all those small decisions that determine how this pregnancy will grow. She decides what to eat, how much stress is in her world, how to support herself spiritually, how to maintain her own mental health, how she moves her body, and a million other decisions all day long. All women do this but not all are conscious of it. At HeartSpace we promote health through consciousness. We strive to foster the grit in each woman to dig deep and figure out what will support her best in this time of immense growth (no pun intended).

The first time people walk through the door we often hear, “This space feels really comfortable”. That sense of immediate comfort and belonging is the first clue that something is different in this model of care. From this familiar place we can do great work together.