Holly Peckskamp, Senior Apprentice Midwife
What Would We Do Withoutout Assistants?!
Holly has walked a slightly different path towards the call of midwifery. It was the challenging birth of her son in 2009, that gave her significant pause about how she had prepared for birth.
Holly feels all birth is beautiful as is, but her own birth story was not without several layers of fear. From the moment her son was born, she was determined to learn deeply about the connections between fear and birth. Her first step into birth work was becoming a labor doula (2009). This path allowed her to become part of the joyful aspects of giving birth with education and advocacy. It was life changing and life healing.
In addition, she developed a childbirth education course to help families learn how to surrender and advocate during the birth journey. This included pre-natal yoga in preparation for the physiological process of birth.
Holly currently is pursuing a midwifery certification through NARM (North American Registry of Midwives.) and is almost completed her training. Holly has attended over 50 home births and water births and over 100+ overall. She has joined Wild Fig Birth LLC after training with other local midwives and we are honored to have her as part of our team.
Holly hold a Bachelors degree, is certified in NRP(Neonatal Resuscitation), BLS(basic life support), has attended BEST(birth emergency skills training), and is a CYT(Certified Yoga Teacher).
Aubrey McMillan. Aubrey joins us in 2023 as a new Midwifery Apprentice, although not new to the birth world.
Aubrey discovered her passion for birth work after her first pregnancy and birth journey. Her background is filled with caring for young children and supporting their families through parenthood.
After her first birth, she leapt into birth work by becoming a doula in 2017. As a doula, she had the honor to support more than 100 families as they welcome new little ones into their families. During this time, her passion continued to bloom and her desire to become a midwife became very clear.
Aubrey is now studying midwifery on her pursuit to become a Certified Professional Midwife through NARM (North American Registry of Midwives). She has an innate ability to be adaptable, calming, and instinctual, which makes her a valuable member to any birth team. She has worked with midwives during her pregnancies and has had very different birth experiences each time
Aubrey is a Certified Birth & Postpartum doula, Certified Placenta Specialist, and Childbirth Educator. She holds certifications in NRP (Neonatal Resuscitation) and CPR-BLS. She is peanut ball trained as well as in other healing modalities. She also loves to talk about homeopathy and herbal remedies.
Aubrey McMillan, Apprentice Midwife
Kendice Hartnell, CPM-TN, Assistant Midwife
Kendice's journey to midwifery started when she was in nursing school and realized she wanted to offer families a humanizing and personalized care that went beyond what a nurse has offer in the hospital setting. While in college she did an internship in Uganda where she assisted midwives who exemplified how imperative the art of midwifery skills were to save lives in any setting, for it was the midwife who has attended birth for most of human existence. Her desire is to give families compassionate, humanizing care and the option of giving birth in a way that is best for them.
Kendice has had the privilege of supporting families through pregnancy and birth since 2012. She is the mother of four daughters and the wife to an organic farmer. Together their family enjoys gardening, being connected to the ground, and producing healthy food to sustain life for our family and others. Kendices love people. Each person brings a different story to our world making it more colorful and complete. She has enjoyed serving women in many different facets of life, but one of the most sacred and humbling ways has been through the art of Midwifery.
Kendice is a Certified Professional Midwife by the North American Registry of Midwives (NARM), holds certifications in CBE (Certified Childbirth Educator), CPR(Basic Life Support) and NRP (Neonatal Resuscitation), is a Labor and Postpartum Doula and holds a Bachelor's Degree in Biblical Studies and Community Development.
We are greatly honored to have Kendice join our Wild Fig Team!