Wednesday
May 8, 2024 
Well, we’re four days into 2024, and I trust in the words of the Frank Sinatra song, “The best is yet to come.” Last week we met a woman who helps people exit the world. This week, let me introduce you to a woman who helps them enter.
Midwife Erin Kershaw of Beautiful Beginnings Homebirth that serves families within a 45-mile radius of Solebury found her attention always drawn to pregnancy and birth but didn’t start to think of it as a career until she was pregnant with her second child in 2011. She looked into alternative birth options and found a home-birth midwife.
After that, Erin started training and graduated from WomanCraft Midwifery Program in 2014.
Erin’s background is varied. A registered nurse, at one time she worked as a veterinary technician where she gained phlebotomy, IV therapy, and intubation skills. She is an herbalist and sold a successful herbal remedy business in 2016. She is a former regional representative, treasurer, and general council member of the Midwives Alliance of Pennsylvania.
The treatment midwives were forced to endure during the past 200 years is disturbing. They were vilified by the medical establishment in the 19th century and characterized as ignorant and dirty. Midwives became so marginalized that by the mid-20th century, common practice was to have your baby in a hospital where you would be strapped to a table and drugged.
Presently, according to The American Journal of Managed Care, “The United States possesses the highest infant and maternal mortality rates compared to any other high-income country.”
Home births are more popular now as families realize their options. The year 2021 saw an increase in home births of 13% over 2020.
“It’s hard work,” Erin says of bringing babies into the world. “And it’s often romanticized, but it is worth it.” Not surprisingly, Erin is on call 24/7. “I’ve missed birthdays, holidays, many events, but my family understands this isn’t a job for me. It’s a calling.”
Despite her demanding schedule, Erin managed to travel to Thailand recently for her first international birth. She is an instructor for The International Registry of Midwives. “I hope to travel more for births in the future and I will travel domestically for repeat clients and breech births, which I’m very passionate about.”
I ask about her more challenging cases. “We are always ready for the unexpected and can handle most complications at home. If it’s something we can’t handle at home, we transfer to the hospital. It is definitely not a case of home birth at any cost.”
Erin says she attends twin births almost every year. “We had three sets of twins last year, and we have another set due in June. With twins, we have a second midwife and a second assistant, a birth team of four instead of two.”
I wonder if newborns ever make eye contact with the midwife. “Oh, yes. They often do, but we rarely hold newborns. That’s not our role.”
Which brings up the question of who catches the baby. Erin says, “I encourage mom or partner to catch. Sometimes I do and sometimes my student does.”
Erin finds one of the best parts of making her living the way she does is that families tend to stay in touch, and she gets to see the babies she has helped into the world as they progress along their unique life journey. “I have families I’ve remained in contact with for years. I love seeing updates on social media or receiving Christmas cards. It’s really nice.”
A typical workday for Erin is filled with prenatal appointments, traveling to houses for postpartum visits, or meeting with the birth team for a 36-week home visit before the baby comes.
“I love watching families welcome their new little ones, becoming empowered along the way, and realizing there is no need to fear birth. The birthing process is beautiful, amazing, sometimes stressful, but always an incredible thing to be part of.”
Erin moved to Bucks County in 2019, and, she said, “We love it here!”
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