We recently connected with Sarah Lyons and have shared our conversation below.

Sarah, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you share a story about the kindest thing someone has done for you and why it mattered so much or was so meaningful to you?

Feeding myself and my family. As a home birth midwife I am in the space of my patients and their families in an intimate way. Not only during labor and birth, but for all prenatal visits at thirty five weeks gestation and beyond. When a new grandma brings me a hot cup of coffee at 2am, or a family sends me home with a bag of peaches for my children, I haven’t felt a more genuine form of loving on someone.

Sarah, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

When I started my midwifery studies I was working on an anthropology degree. I had been working as a doula and thought that a midwifery skill set may be helpful in my travels and make me a more desirable hire. I fell absolutely head over heals in love, not only with the autonomy and empowerment of home birth but herbalism and community building as well. I first trained in a practice that had a focus on out of country and rural settings. I quickly realized that I excel in high tension situations and can skillfully and calmly resolve complications. I trained with Mercy in action in their “expect the unexpected”, Breech without borders and reteach breech. I had the pleasure of working in the non profit world offering midwifery care and training doulas to work with pregnant and parenting teens. I am proud to be able to offer care to a wide variety of patients, presenting options and allowing them to create their own care plan.

Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?

It is becoming more and more common to train in multiple practices and I am so glad. I was able to train in six midwifery practices in Michigan and took invaluable knowledge from each.

Any advice for managing a team?

I enjoy paying my team well and feeding them any chance I am given. The days of exploiting students for free labor are hopefully soon behind us! Students fulfill the student role and are paid a stipend to get out of bed and attend births, and birth assistants are paid by the practice nearly as much as a trained midwife is. You can find us supporting local restaurants and coffee shops frequently.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.michiganmidwiferyco.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michiganmidwiferyco/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Michiganmidwiferyco