What Does it Mean to Be a Midwife?

The word midwife comes from the old English “mid wif” — it means “with woman.” Not above, not for, not instead of. Simply with. A midwife is one who stands beside. Who bears witness. Who holds, who notices, who encourages. This is ancient work. Before hospitals and textbooks, before titles and certificates, there were always women walking with women. The Wise Women of the village, the keepers of stories, the healers who used herbs, hands, songs, and silence. They were midwives not just for birth, but for all thresholds; the bleeding of first moons, the bringing forth of life, the mourning of loss, the crossing into menopause, the stepping into elderhood.

To be a midwife is to be a companion through change.

The Alternative Midwife

When I call myself The Alternative Midwife, I am honouring this lineage. Yes, I am trained in modern medicine, trauma therapy, breathwork, and public health, I am a registered clinical midwife. But more than that, I carry the wise woman energy, the skills and learnings of being with you, in whatever chapter of life you find yourself.

Because life is not only about birth. It is also about endings. It is about healing. It is about the quiet changes and the loud ones.

Being The Alternative Midwife means walking beside you whether you are preparing for motherhood, recovering from a birth, healing from grief, or stepping into a new season like menopause.

With Woman, With Women

Our ancestors gathered around fires and in kitchens, in fields and temples. They listened, they witnessed, they encouraged. This is what women have always done when the world outside felt too heavy. To midwife is to walk alongside. To be a presence. To remind you of your own power, not to place mine above yours. This is work is not about fixing. It is about healing. It is about seeing. It is about remembering.

A Path We Walk Together

Every threshold in life from puberty, motherhood, loss, menopause, elderhood always asks something of us. It asks us to pause, to listen, to shed, to rise. No woman should have to do that alone. The Alternative Midwife is not just me. It is a way. A path. A reminder of what our ancestors already knew: that women are strongest when we walk together. So here, in this space, you are seen. You are heard. You are held.

Through all of life’s chapters, I am with you.