references for san diego midwife

Birth Stories & Testimonials

- Lorenzo and Nicole Giacomini

“Having Jamin with me gave me confidence when my water broke prematurely. Her medical background served me well to negotiate and minimize unnecessary interventions in the hospital. She got along well with the hospital staff while advocating for me, and I was still able to have a beautiful and comfortable birth. Jamin is the kind of midwife who understands and utilizes the best of both modern medicine and natural care”.

- Julann Lodge

“I always wanted to experience natural childbirth. With my first pregnancy I read a lot of books about the development of the baby, took a hospital childbirth class, and thought I was well prepared. Well, I wasn’t. My water broke and the doctors talked me into an induction with pitocin, later an epidural, and ending with a cesarean section. My son was perfect but the experience never felt like a birth, instead it felt like he was taken from me. Fortunately, he took to breast-feeding well and we bonded quickly.

With my second pregnancy I decided to educate myself as much as possible about natural childbirth. I read stories about other couples’ natural birth experiences, learned about midwifery and took a Bradley class. My husband and I finally decided late in my pregnancy to have a homebirth. We felt it was important to avoid any drugs or medical intervention and also wanted and needed complete support of natural childbirth by the team around us. Despite all the warnings and doubts expressed from many medical professionals we chose to have a midwife assisted homebirth with Jamin.

Well, my baby was strong and healthy, my labor was efficient and my pelvis wasn’t too small after all. The experience was awesome! I was very comfortable, felt no pressure, had no rules, and was therefore able to experience a completely intimate and totally natural birth process. I felt empowered throughout and later shocked by the difference in birthing experience. I really never thought it could happen because of all the negative statements from doctors but I knew I had to try and homebirth was the only way for me. When my second baby was born, he never left my side and instead lay gently against me, nursed when he was ready, and we were both able to completely embrace the experience”.

- N.C

“I am so grateful to Jamin for all that she was during the birth of our daughter Lily in November of 2003. I was so honored to have her guiding and loving hands there with me during the first precious moments of Lily’s life. Lily’s birth was a trying experience for the five of us in the room that night. It wasn’t easy for my husband to watch me in pain. Jamin, who happened to be 7 months pregnant herself at the time, was our calm in a storm. She spoke words of comfort and wisdom to both my husband and myself. She was firm, yet encouraging, displaying her years of apparently profound knowledge and experience. She was precise and professional, never losing her stamina or cool. She was my bright beacon of hope and faith!

That night, when I labored the hardest and started to have doubts, Jamin coached me into believing, that I could have this baby at home. Because she was confident in my capabilities I too believed. Jamin was the one person in the world who really helped me to understand and believe that I was capable. No small things for a first time mom. I thank God for Jamin. Throughout the entire duration of my pregnancy and the birth process I felt encouraged, reassured and loved. Jamin’s warm brown eyes and knowing words were instrumental in giving me the courage to have my baby at home.

Thank you Jamin for giving all you had during the most amazing experience of our lives. My family will always have a special place for you in our hearts”.

- With deep respect and tenderness, Meredith

“It’s been eleven weeks since our newest bundle of joy arrived and I’m still overjoyed by our choice to have a homebirth. This was the fifth child I was going to birth and I was certain that I wanted this time to be different, not in a hospital. I knew there must be a better way. Besides being a veteran to childbirth, I’m also a hospital labor and delivery RN which furthered our careful decision to choose the right midwife to assist in our birth.

I knew that choosing the right professional to assist us would be critical in helping us create an experience that we could cherish for the rest of our lives. Fortunately, we made the right decision! I was referred to La Shel by several people, but since we lived in East County I didn’t think we’d be a good match. How wrong I was! After interviewing other midwives I eventually decided to follow everyone’s advice and call La Shel. I felt an incredible connection to her right away and somehow immediately knew I was going to have the birth I always dreamed of.

The birth: The day finally arrived after thirty eight weeks. I had suspected my water had broken and called La Shel for her opinion, (isn’t it sad that a labor and delivery nurse isn’t always sure?) as usual, she replied so pleasantly, even though I was calling in the wee hours of the morning. She reassured me that this was going to be the day and to call when things got started.

Of course, being a busy mom, I had other plans than to birth that day. So, after taking care of some tasks around the house, I began to notice the mild contractions beginning to occur every four to six minutes, so I called La Shel again. I knew they weren’t strong, but they were definitely “real”. When she and Jamin arrived I was out on my balcony swaying back and forth through the contractions. By this point, my mom and husband were just letting me do my own thing, knowing the only people I was interested in seeing were the midwives. I really wanted an opinion on heading into the Jacuzzi for some relief. La Shel checked my cervix and gave me the go ahead to enter the tub since I was at 7cm.

When my mom heard we’d be seeing our new baby so soon, she started to get anxious. La Shel and Jamin were awesome. They gave everyone the guidance they needed to help rather than hinder me. My mom and husband helped me through a few contractions in the Jacuzzi and then La Shel approached and calmly mentioned that it seemed like I might be feeling the urge to push soon. I, of course, being the experienced childbirther that I was, told her there was no way I could be completely dilated. She kindly suggested that just in case I might be wrong, we move to the bed (where I intended to deliver), for a quick check. Again, how wrong I was! I was completely dilated and had I not had such an intuitive midwife, I may not have ended up delivering right where I always wanted, our bed!

Once we knew birth was imminent we called our daughters in to watch their new baby brother be born. It seemed as if the urge to bear down came at exactly the same moment my nine year old entered the room. I think my little boy was waiting until his big sisters could be there to watch him make his grand entrance!

After about fifteen minutes of pushing I reached down to feel my sweet baby’s head. It was complete euphoria. While my husband held me through the pushing, it felt like we were bringing the baby out together. Our baby was in my arms just a few moments later and I’ve been holding him ever since. With the help of La Shel and Jamin, we had a perfect baby, in our very own bed with my family close by and no stitches required!

After delivering the placenta, our boys also joined us and watched their little brother be weighed and checked. It was amazing to have our family all together while watching our newest member get checked over with all of us lying on the bed together. He has turned out to be an incredibly sweet, happy and mellow baby, which I truly believe has everything to do with his gentle entrance into our lives, all thanks to La Shel and Jamin”.

- Kris King RN

My husband and I chose to try a homebirth for our third child. We had had two very positive birth center experiences with our older daughters (ages 6 and 3), but because we now live 26 miles away from the nearest birth center, we investigated homebirth as an option.

We chose La Shel as our midwife because we liked the fact that she had both an RN and midwifery degree and that her work experience included hospitals, birth centers and home assisted births. We also liked her a lot in our interview. La Shel was down to earth, easy to talk to and seemed very knowledgeable. We particularly liked that La Shel and Jamin worked as a team during delivery.

We truly had the birth of our dreams. I labored at home all day, taking periodic walks in my neighborhood. When my contractions intensified, I felt safe and comfortable in my home, choosing to be in my bedroom with my husband.

La Shel and Jamin respected our privacy and seemed to sense so well what my needs were without me having to say anything. They were then when I felt vulnerable or had a concern but did not interfere at all with my birthing process.

La Shel knew how much I wanted my girls to witness the birth and managed to call them in at the perfect time during the second stage. They watched in amazement as their little sister came into the world - our third daughter was born in the water with her two older sisters watching! We all bonded in bed together and shared birthday cake that the girls made for their new sister and soaked in the magic of this incredible new life.

I have wondered why the homebirth felt so much more profound compared to the birth center experiences for us since they were all natural, mid wife assisted births. It's still difficult to articulate why the homebirth felt so much more magical – but it did. It seemed I felt a very deep connection with women everywhere and throughout time that have brought their babies into the world at home, surrounded by loved ones, feeling strong and capable.

I also felt very blessed that my daughters were able to witness how beautiful and empowering the birth process is, how wise our bodies are and how pain is just a natural part of a much larger and hugely transformative experience of childbirth.

La Shel and Jamin allowed for complete peace of mind, knowing they were both highly competent and able to cope with any emergency that might pop up… but ultimately, I felt like “I” birthed my baby while my loving, supportive midwives simply witnessed the miracle.

I recommend La Shel and Jamin highly, and feel so grateful to them for their guidance, encouragement and support throughout my pregnancy and for helping to hold the sacred space where such a beautiful birth could occur.

Lastly, I was not even aware until after the birth that La Shel had taken pictures. We are so grateful she captured these priceless images of my labor, delivery and first moments with our baby.

- Marjorie Miller, Ph.D.

Evan and I wanted only the best care for our first baby, and La Shel has exceeded our expectations every step of the way, from prenatal to postpartum. We looked forward to every visit with her not only because we received personalized and unhurried attention, but because she seems to enjoy what she does.

In La Shel we found a midwife whose knowledge and experience we could trust, but who always allowed us the freedom to make our own choices. We appreciated the fact that she told us about all of our options encouraged us to educate ourselves. She didn't hesitate to recommend herbal remedies or alternative treatments that we probably wouldn't have considered or heard of if we'd gone to a more mainstream ob-gyn.

What I remember most clearly about labor is feeling that I was in good hands. Jamin and La Shel seemed to instinctively know when I needed to eat or drink, when I needed to be coached and when I needed to be left alone for awhile. They encouraged me to try all kinds of different laboring positions and they knew when I could use a change of pace. They also facilitated Evan's constant physical and emotional support and involvement throughout the process.

We had a long labor and I know that in a hospital I probably would've been subjected to all kinds of interventions, almost certainly ending in an episiotomy at best or a C-section at worst. We were blessed to have these talented women lead us through such a gentle delivery that both baby Maya and I emerged with little more than a stretch mark!

Maya seemed very alert and I felt that she bonded with Evan and me right away. La Shel made sure nursing got off to a good start. At four weeks postpartum I felt fully recovered. Now at seven weeks, Maya has been gaining weight steadily and is happy and healthy.

If Evan and I are still in San Diego for our next baby, we're definitely going to ask La Shel and Jamin to be our midwives. And if we're not in San Diego, we may just have to fly them out to wherever we are. These ladies are the best!

- Jessica Fuller

This is such a difficult “Thank You” to write. It seems impossible to put into words how much I appreciate La Shel’s support throughout my pregnancy and birth. I believe in birth and I believe in its ability to unfold the way nature and God intended, without medical intervention. As a labor and delivery nurse, I have seen what medicine has done to birth and over the years I became afraid. When it came time to have my own child, I looked to find a provider that believed in birth the way I did. I found La Shel!

It takes more skill to let labor be what it is than to interfere with the process. Labor and birth is largely in the heart and in the head. The wise woman knows this and works with it to help her labor unfold as it should. Despite being 8-9 cm for longer than usual, she never gave up on my labor. She told me that although my cervix was changing slowly, that is WAS changing. When I was tried of walking to keep my contractions coming, La Shel said what I needed to hear to have the strength to keep going. La Shel waited and watched and allowed my husband and I to experience this labor together. She knew when to give us space and when we needed her. When I was so exhausted that I was afraid I wouldn’t have the energy to push, she was tough. La Shel said that she believed in me and that I really could and was doing it. That made all the difference and within minutes, and with new found energy, I was able to begin pushing. She said that I was going to have my baby at home, where I wanted.

The tone in her voice gave me the courage I needed to finish what we had started. What you do is unique. There aren’t many that have the ability to truly be called MIDWIFE. La Shel does! My son Cole is a gift. What La Shel gave me is also a gift. A rare gift that perhaps has lost appreciation in our modern world. A chance for women to prove that they are strong enough. La Shel, thank you for my homebirth…..a joy only few women know.

Christa Sakowski RN

On September 5th, 2006 I gave birth to our fourth child, a little girl. A true blessing for our family. Being a labor and delivery nurse myself, I decided that I wanted to have a very different birthing experience than I had with my first three children. I didn't want to rush to the hospital, or be totally numb with an epidural, or have my family or the baby separated from me, or have people coming into my room to take my blood pressure at all hours of the night. I wanted this birth to be one filled with the warmth of my husband by my side, my children welcomed and present for the birth of their baby sister, and all of us safe in the comfort of our own home. I chose La Shel to be my primary midwife because I related to her experience as a labor and delivery nurse, and after speaking with her for the first time, I felt completely comfortable with her skill level and her confident approach. My prenatal visits and our subsequent homebirth only proved to reinforce this. La Shel was at all times professional, yet very nuturing, and by the time we said goodbye at our last post-birth visit, I felt that we had established a very deep bond, a connection that one could only understand after having shared such an experience. My birthing experience was everything I wanted it to be. Under La Shel's guidance, we were completely prepared for the event. She made sure we had all the necessary supplies, helped me in choosing the right birthing pool from the many available, and above all made sure that my husband and I felt very confident in our choice to birth at home.

Jamin, whom I had met at various office and home visits, turned out to be my angel at delivery. While La Shel tended to the all-important physical aspect of my birth, Jamin was able to focus strictly on guiding me through the very intense, emotional moments just before the baby was born. I felt priviledge to have both these ladies at my side as they were truly pre-destined to do this woman's work.

Beside the actual birth, I think the most amazing moments came when La Shel and Jamin had completed all their assessments and made sure we were all healthy and comfortable, and then were able to leave us all to be a new family in our own home, our own bed, with the morning sun shining through our own bedroom windows. What a blessing it was to share those first quiet moments with our baby girl, in amazement of the experience and in awe of her peaceful beauty. To have our other children come and go throughout the day, and visit with their new sister, and to have my husband at my side from start to finish, without him having to rush back and forth to a hospital somewhere, was just what I imagined it to be - calm, serene. And, having La Shel come back to our home for our first two post-birth visits, was also a comfort. Again, she made sure we were all doing well before she left us to our precious first days at home.

Though choosing to have a homebirth is a very personal choice, and one that requires much consideration, I believe that it is far and above a more satisfying experience than in-hospital birthing. I have seen the myriad of things that are done "to you" while giving birth in-hospital. Things that can make you feel that you were somehow unable to cope, or unable to give birth to your baby on your own without the help of the doctor or medications. These things are not present when you are at home. You don't have to try to get anyone to follow your birth plan, because your birth plan has been completely established with your midwife long before you go into labor. The midwives are there to support your wishes in every way safely possible. You are made to feel confident in your body's innate ability to birth your baby. You are completely part of the process and of all the decisions made in and around your prenatal care and your delivery. It is a deeply satisfying experience on so many levels. My words cannot do it justice.

My six week post-birth visit was just the other day, and having completed my entire prenatal / post-natal care, I told La Shel & Jamin goodbye, but I think that it won't be for long. (smile)

Toni B.

When we met Jamin, it was like a breath of fresh air. We had just moved to the San Diego area, were well into our second pregnancy, and were without prenatal care. We were looking for a midwife to assist in our homebirth and one who would also be willing to come with us to the hospital if necessary. We found many midwives in the area strictly attended homebirths and did not transfer. More than that, we wanted a caregiver who was qualified, experienced, intuitive, dependable, and respected our choice of natural childbirth. We explained to Jamin our desires and intentions and she was extremely eager to work with us. She even explained that the name of the caregiver that we were searching for is a “monitrice”.

When our big Birth Day arrived, my contractions were steadily progressing, but very short in duration. I called Jamin and she suggested that she stop by just to check. I agreed, but was convinced that I wasn’t really in labor. Wrong! I was astonished when Jamin confirmed that I was going to have my baby today! In the flash of those last few hours, Jamin was a strong and reassuring presence. She thoughtfully made suggestions and at the same time knew when to let me be. Less than 3 hours later, I felt the ring of fire and shortly after our son was born! He was born at home into our loving arms just as we had hoped! It was a joy to have Jamin and LaShel on our team. They have a deep respect for natural childbirth and at the same time will make use of modern medicine. They are extremely caring, skilled, and most importantly thorough and very competent professionals. We highly recommend Jamin and La Shel and are grateful for their assistance in our homebirth!

Debi and Jeff

By week 7 of my third pregnancy I knew that homebirth was the only option for me. Once again I was feeling diminished and disrespected by my practitioner. I began tentatively interviewing midwives in the area, but once I met Jamin and La Shel everything clicked for me.

From the initial interview throughout all of my pre and postnatal appointments, Jamin and La Shel showed compassion, understanding, and commitment to what I wanted to achieve with this birth. They were empathetic and caring and respectful of my issues regarding previous treatment and could confidently discuss concerns that my husband and I both raised.

Throughout the prenatals, Jamin and La Shel got to know me and my family. My two daughters accompanied me to many appointments, and they soon began to look forward to going. The midwives included my young daughters in the process by allowing them to hold the blood pressure cuff or the Doppler to hear the baby’s heartbeat. It didn’t take long for the girls to start playing midwife at home! This worked to our advantage in the long run because when it was time for the birth, the girls were completely unfazed by Jamin and La Shel’s presence in our home.

Jamin and La Shel were available for my calls, and did not make me feel foolish for even the questions I knew were silly. Most importantly, they educated us during the process. They explained the reasoning behind the tests, questions, and procedures. They offered alternatives to the standard hospital methods, and supported us regardless of which we chose.

The birth itself was intense and amazing. Things went incredibly quickly which in a hospital setting could have been chaotic. Instead, Jamin, my husband, and La Shel worked calmly and confidently together to make certain that I was comfortable and ready because that baby was coming! I couldn’t have imagined a better experience for my family in welcoming our third child. How do I convey what having a homebirth meant to me? Homebirth and midwifery care is so much more than the main event of birth. Jamin and La Shel made it everything I wanted and needed.

Suzanne Weiss