I received labor doula and childbirth educator training from CAPPA in July 2006.  In November of the same year I enrolled with the Midwife-To-Be program and switched to self-study along with an apprenticeship with Tiffany Koss.  I have practiced as a direct entry midwife under supervision since January 2010, working to complete the NARM requirements to receive the CPM credentials. The midwife providing supervision after March 2011 is Faith Morie, CPM.  I also offer doula and monitrice care for those planning a hospital birth and teach childbirth classes.  

My husband and I have four children.  Our first two daughters were born in the hospital.  I received an epidural for the last ten minutes with my first.  Having gone through that experience I realized birth was not something to fear and that I could handle it without medication!  My second daughter was a planned unmedicated birth.  Our third daughter and our son were born at home in water.   In addition to working as a doula/monitrice and childbirth educator, I also homeschool our children.   

         I believe that birth is a natural and normal process for a woman's body. We were wonderfully made to bring our children into the world. With that process comes the responsibility to be informed, empowered, and prepared to give birth. A woman who is wise and knowledgeable about the birthing process will be able to trust her body, her baby, and her caregiver. She will have the ability to make her wishes known because she understands what is normal for her birth. In addition, she will have the wisdom to know when unexpected situations have occurred and that her care giver's decisions are in the best interest of her baby and herself.  Barring any high-risk situations, birth is not a medical event. The woman is not sick and does not need to be managed as such. When left alone the woman and her baby will proceed through labor naturally, the way they were both wonderfully made to do. I realize there are times when intervention and technology can play a vital part in keeping the mother and/or baby safe. However in most situations simply letting a woman labor naturally is the safest route.

I believe that when birth is kept normal, the baby will benefit greatly. I believe giving your baby a gentle beginning is one of your first acts of unconditional love. Your baby was wonderfully made to enter this world. A woman should trust her baby to enter the world in the way he/she needs to. Immediately following birth all the baby needs is his/her mother. Hers is the voice that has comforted, the heart that has calmed, and the breasts that will nourish. Keeping birth normal for baby is the best beginning.

Regardless of the times you have birthed, the act of birthing each baby holds its own fears and unknowns. When you are expecting I believe it is especially important to have someone along side who can help gather information, educate, offer a hug, assist you during labor and birth, and come along-side in the days or weeks that follow the birth. Planning a natural birth...a wonderfully made birth...will empower each woman to have the experience she was created to have.

Tiffany Koss, DEM

* On hiatus after March 2012* 
                

 I began studying midwifery in 2000 after becoming a childbirth educator and then a doula.  It was a passion that, at the time, was not planned nor was it convenient!  Sometimes God calls you to a path that you personally did not imagine.  My first baby was born in the hospital and while it wasn’t what most would consider traumatic, it wasn’t what I expected.  My second daughter was born at home in the most incredible atmosphere and I couldn’t understand why everyone did not do it that way.  It was the relationship with my midwife and my overall experience that led me down this path only a year after she was born. 

I spent a little over two years studying as an apprentice with a midwife of more than 25 years, and I did my book work through the Texas Midwives Association.  I have now been working on my own for about six years, taking on a smaller client load that most of the others in the state because I still have young children and want to be as involved with them 

as possible.       

If at any point you would like a list of references from past births, please feel free to ask.  I have no problem with anyone speaking to my past moms as long as they are comfortable with it!

I truly look forward to working with you and your family during this life changing time.  I feel blessed to have been called to midwifery.  I don’t believe anyone in the world has a better “job” than I do!  I get to help women empower themselves through choice and involvement

in their care and I get to help bring new lives into the world and into the arms of their families! It’s incredible, and it’s just as incredible every single time!!

If I suspect you need the care of a physician, I will not hesitate to let you know!  There is nothing in the world to me that is worth endangering the health of you or your child.  If you cannot trust that at any time during my care, I urge you to find another caregiver.  If you are uncomfortable with a caregiver that prefers to be a knowledgeable friend over a know-it-all authority figure, I urge you to seek the services of someone else.  Truly caring about people while caring for them does not mean “less competent”.  You can be very good at what you do without acting as though people are subjects instead of people.  You can earn respect for what you do and what you know without making others feel like they are incompetent in the same area.   I hope that is how I come across while you are in my care.  If it doesn’t, again I urge you to find a caregiver that can give all these things because it is truly the relationship a pregnant woman- a pregnant family- needs and deserves.  Don’t accept any less!