Karen Brock
Karen Brock - CPM
Meet Karen Brock CPM TN - AL LM
My name is Karen Brock. I cannot remember a time when I wasn’t interested in birth. My Grandma was a local, community midwife, trained and supported by the Health Dpt. By the time I came along she was no longer serving families. However. I was blessed to hear stories from her past. These stories spoke of a simpler time, a simpler way of life yet they had one continual thought weaving throughout. Birth was normal. These women faced hardships and many challenges but birth, you could trust. When my inquisitive mind pressed her for more details, she’d often say, “times a changin’.”
Birth looks very different today than in Grandma’s day. Now a days, birth is often considered a medical event to be managed in a hospital setting under a doctor. For some families, this is not how they choose to welcome a new baby into their family. The word “midwife” means “with woman” and to Grandma that meant being with a woman during her time, giving emotional and physical support and very often that was all the woman needed. Well folks, times “a changin!” Thanks to the many years of hard work and a very small group of dedicated women, birth has come full circle. Once again, Alabama women can enjoy birthing in the comfort and security of their home, knowing they have the watchful eye of a trained midwife in support.
Wetawnya Smith
By way of introduction, we are three midwives with 60 plus years of combined experience in natural birth. My personal history runs deep, rising out of the desire to birth my children without intervention during a time when that was almost completely unheard of. In 1980, my first child was birthed natural in a hospital. Although it was a battle, I won! On some level I realized that birth should not have to be a battle and my next three children were born at home. Out of these experiences I birthed not only my children but myself as a midwife. The next 17 years, I worked alongside other midwives and in 1997, I became a CPM, Certified Professional Midwife. By then, Alabama no longer permitted midwives for homebirth so in 2002, I licensed in TN. This began 15 years of AL families travelling to TN to birth in a home environment. Recently, AL has recognized the value of licensed midwives and in February 2019, I welcomed the first “legal” homebirth baby in AL since the 1980’s.
Birth looks very different today than in Grandma’s day. Now a days, birth is often considered a medical event to be managed in a hospital setting under a doctor. For some families, this is not how they choose to welcome a new baby into their family. The word “midwife” means “with woman” and to Grandma that meant being with a woman during her time, giving emotional and physical support and very often that was all the woman needed. Well folks, times “a changin!” Thanks to the many years of hard work and a very small group of dedicated women, birth has come full circle. Once again, Alabama women can enjoy birthing in the comfort and security of their home, knowing they have the watchful eye of a trained midwife in support.
Wetawnya Smith
By way of introduction, we are three midwives with 60 plus years of combined experience in natural birth. My personal history runs deep, rising out of the desire to birth my children without intervention during a time when that was almost completely unheard of. In 1980, my first child was birthed natural in a hospital. Although it was a battle, I won! On some level I realized that birth should not have to be a battle and my next three children were born at home. Out of these experiences I birthed not only my children but myself as a midwife. The next 17 years, I worked alongside other midwives and in 1997, I became a CPM, Certified Professional Midwife. By then, Alabama no longer permitted midwives for homebirth so in 2002, I licensed in TN. This began 15 years of AL families travelling to TN to birth in a home environment. Recently, AL has recognized the value of licensed midwives and in February 2019, I welcomed the first “legal” homebirth baby in AL since the 1980’s.