Jennifer Childress

I am a Certified Professional Midwife licensed to practice in the state of Oregon.  I attend families in Tillamook and Clatsop Counties.

On each birthday of my life, my mom started the day with something like “13 years ago today…” and proceeded to tell me my birth story.  As the mother of three daughters she was proud to have been awake and aware during our births, and early on instilled in me a belief in the power and beauty of birth.

Hearing that story over and over created a bond between my mom, my sisters and me and gave us a sense of who we were as a family.  The year after my mom passed, my younger sister called me on my birthday starting our conversation with “39 years ago today…”

I love all kinds of life – human, animal and plant.  My family and I live on a farm in the woods where we grow a garden and raise animals.  I am grateful for the opportunity to surround myself with new life, like sprouting seedlings, newborn goats and babies.

My journey to midwifery was a curvy one.  I attended the birth of a friend’s baby in 1988 as her doula.  The birth was fast and beautiful, cementing my childhood belief that birth works.  Later I began an apprenticeship with a rural midwife in Northeast Tennessee attending births with her for 4 years.  During that time I gave birth to Willa at home.  When I gave birth to Roan in 1999, also at home, I felt that I needed to take a break for a while and focus on my mothering.  Six years later after moving to Oregon, I was ready to start again.  I attended Birthingway College of Midwifery and apprenticed with many midwives from around the Portland area, serving clients here on the North Coast.   In 2009, I completed my apprenticeship, became certified with the North American Registry of Midwives and was ready to set up a practice. Since then, I’ve been driving up and down the coast  being blessed by the relationships I’ve formed with the families I serve. 

Want more? Read a great article published in HIPFiSHmonthly (5.51 MB pdf download)