We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Samantha Magpi. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Samantha below.

Samantha, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Setting up an independent practice is a daunting endeavor. Can you talk to us about what it was like for you – what were some of the main steps, challenges, etc.

I started my own practice as a homebirth midwife in the Philly area in 2019.

Samantha, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Samm, I’m the daughter (& only child) of a refuge mother from Laos & an American Italian/ Hungarian/ Filipino father, who accidentally created me 30 years ago… I’m a homebirth midwife and most importantly a mama to 3 wild children (ages 1, 4, & 8). I live in Media, a suburb 30 minutes south of Philly with my high school crush turned life partner, our kids, and our 10 year old, 100lb fur baby, Roofus.

After I graduated high school I thought I wanted to become a nurse, I had been interested in the medical field & enjoyed helping others so I started attending my local community college to complete pre-requisites for nursing school. When I was 19, I attended a labor day BBQ at my uncles house & his neighbor was talking to me about being a doula or midwife (2 things I had never really heard of). She talked about babies being born in bathtubs at home, and natural birth- concepts that were completely foreign to me. (I would have 100% opted for a cesarean birth and was absolutely terrified of the thought of a vaginal birth at the time) But, anyways I went home that night and started googling more information about doulas & midwives and it peaked my interest, I found a training coming up the next month in Philly & decided to sign up having zero idea of what I was getting into.

The weekend during that doula training changed my life forever. Immediately it felt like a light bulb had turned on and all of a sudden I saw pregnancy and childbirth in this new and empowering way. I was surrounded by the most amazing women talking about their own birth experiences, this badass teacher who was a former midwife telling the craziest stories I had ever heard… After the training I knew I had to do birth work, So I immediately started a business as a doula & birth photographer, but also wondering who the hell was going to hire a childless 19 year old to guide them during their pregnancy & birth.

To my surprise, my business took off & I became quite busy working as a doula/ birth photographer. As soon as I saw my first homebirth at 21 I knew that was what I was put on the planet to do. Birth was already so amazing to me, but when I saw my first homebirth and how hands off, natural & sacred it was I just kept wanting more & more of it. I decided to move forward in becoming a homebirth midwife and quickly realized how un-straightforward the process was. Limited schools, minimal apprenticeship opportunities, so much political bullshit from state to state… It felt like a million roadblocks and the most daunting journey.

As soon as I had decided on a midwifery school & found an apprenticeship I found out I was pregnant, very unexpectedly. While we may have been 21, with no money and no plan, living at my parents house, I am so thankful we got pregnant when we did because it all worked out in the best way possible. I was working part time for an acupuncturist & chiropractor, both of which had homebirths with the OG midwife of the area who had been in practice for 30+ years, they recommended I reach out to her. Immediately upon meeting her I knew she was the one I wanted to help me bring my baby into the world. I didn’t know how I would continue with midwifery school, and I had to turn down my apprenticeship and focused on working the rest of my pregnancy.

In 2015 I had a beautiful ,yet somewhat complicated homebirth and gave birth to a 9lb baby boy. Working with my midwife made me realize how much power & strength I had within, it gave me a new kind of confidence, a new outlook on life… I knew after his birth I needed to become a midwife to be able to provide that type of care to families in my community. To my surprise, she asked me to be her apprentice a year later. So in 2016 I started working with my own midwife, attending births all over Maryland, Delaware & PA, for the Amish, large farm families, immigrant families, professional athletes, etc.

In 2017 I started a formal midwifery school on top of my apprenticeship, being a mom, & still working as a doula & at the acupuncture/ chiropractic office. I had to leave and travel to Maine for 2 weeks at a time, every 2 months, leaving my 2 year old behind. I look back now and have no idea how I did that, but I’m grateful I just pushed through and persevered.

In 2018 towards the end of my training I decided to do an apprenticeship in El Paso, TX to practice my Spanish speaking & learn more about birth on the border. After I arrived I found out I was pregnant with my 2nd baby. The timing felt awful as I was still in school, but I was excited to give my son a sibling and to experience pregnancy/ birth again. We traveled to the Philippines when I was 20 weeks pregnant and I interned at Shiphrah Birth Center for 6 weeks, a high volume birth center outside of Manila. I absolutely loved everything about the Philippines, the culture, the food, the people… It felt like home and I was sad to leave.

After I gave birth to my daughter in 2019 I started my practice, wearing my 6 week old baby to births with me. I imagined myself starting things slowly, but 9 months after I started my practice the pandemic hit and I went from slow & steady to absolutely overwhelmed. The midwives in the area were used to doing 2-5 births a month, but after COVID many started doubling to tripling their volume. Many families who were not originally interested in homebirth quickly changed their minds and homebirth midwives were being flooded with inquiries.

Since opening my practice in 2019 I’ve attended around 150 births as primary midwife and have created a beautiful community of likeminded families. During the pandemic it was what kept me sane. While almost everyone was living in isolation I still had a strong community of families to support & I’m so thankful everything lined up exactly the way it had over the last few years. I am grateful for all of the incredible colleagues I have. In so many areas midwifery is competitive and catty. But, in Philly we have a really strong, solid group of midwives and I am privileged to work alongside them all.

I’m proud of the midwifery practice I started and I look forward for what’s to come. I have hopes of opening a wellness center in the next couple of years. When I’m not midwifing I am traveling with my family & I feel blessed to have created a life where I can balance the two pretty damn well… I’d love to start midwifery retreats around the world and connect with more midwives from all over.

I am big on self care and I hate that so many mothers feel mom guilt for pretty much everything they do. Working/ not working/ taking time for themselves/ etc. It’s toxic and it’s so normalized in our culture. I am constantly preaching to my friends/ clients about the importance of community & taking care of themselves, because the two go hand in hand. I can’t do this work without taking care of myself first and I will never feel guilty about that…

Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?

I think to be a successful midwife, you need to know how to take care of yourself. Midwifery is one of the highest burn out careers & also high divorce rate. Many midwives stop practicing after 5 years. The on-call life, lack of community support, the high stress, the emotional/ physical demand, etc. It’s usually an incredibly rewarding career, but when it’s not, it can be gut wrenching.

Walking alongside families during their highest of highs & lowest of lows is like nothing else in the world.

Being able to hold space for others, but not take on everyone’s shit is a delicate balance. You need to sit their and hold a basket while people pour all of their everything (trauma, anger/ excitement/ sadness/ anxiety/ grief/ etc.) into that basket, and then you need to leave that basket at the door. So many people take that basket & hold it with them, for years… And that leads to so many long term issues- chronic stress, autoimmune disorders, mental health issues, the list goes on…

So many midwives run themselves to the ground. Don’t kill yourself doing birth work, make time for your friends/ family, schedule time off (lots of it), have a good therapist, eat nourishing foods, respect your own boundaries, get body work, exercise regularly, choose clients wisely, etc.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

Everything goes back to community for me. When I was a young doula I started setting roots, building connections and I believe those connections I made 10 years ago are what have successfully helped my business today. The connections I made working at the chiropractor and acupuncture office, the allied health professionals I’ve met along the way, the moms I met in my first sons breastfeeding group, the doula clients, the families I started to connect with in homeschooling groups…

The most effective strategy for growing my clientele has been connecting with my community. From there it has all worked itself out. My business sells itself. People hear about me from a friend of a friend, or two friends, or their friend and their pelvic floor therapist…

I don’t do much marketing other than posting on social media. People love seeing other peoples stories & photos, the rawness & realness of birth/ parenting/ pregnancy… & Many of my clients love sharing their stories so it’s a win- win.

Contact Info:

• Website: magpimidwifery.com
• Instagram: Magpi Midwifery
• Facebook: facebook.com/magpimidwifery

Image Credits
Hayden Trace homeagainbirth.com