My name is Sarah Barbosa and I am a Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) and a Licensed Midwife (LM) in the state of Minnesota.
I had a long and winding path toward midwifery, not returning to school to pursue it until my own children were a little older. Since high school, I had always alternated between healthcare and education jobs. When my kids were young, I began working as a Childbirth Educator and Birth Doula, teaching classes for a local clinic and discovered it was the perfect fit of my two interests: teaching and medicine. I was first introduced to homebirth when a dear friend invited me to attend her birth as a doula. The midwifery model of care that I witnessed at that birth immediately resonated with me on many levels and I left the birth with the clarity of knowing I would someday become a midwife.
I had always felt a strong pull toward holistic healthcare and minimal medical interventions unless necessary; from early on I had a natural, instinctual trust in the body’s ability to birth. I often tell the story of giving birth to my daughter in the hospital (long before I was introduced to homebirth or the midwifery model of care) and without being told or taught, simply knowing that there was no way I could possibly lay in bed during labor; the thought of laying in bed through contractions terrified me far more than the intensity or pain of labor.
I knew I wanted to pursue midwifery and eventually, our family was in a place that allowed me to take the step of starting midwifery school. I graduated from Southwest Wisconsin Technical College’s (SWTC) Direct-Entry Midwifery Program and passed my North American Registry of Midwives (NARM) Board exam in the spring of 2017. I spent my first two years as a midwife, practicing at birth center as a staff midwife. It was a wonderful experience! I gained significant experience and knowledge while surrounded by other amazing midwives. It also allowed me to fulfill my passion of providing the midwifery model of care to a rural community that didn’t have many birth options.