Today we’d like to introduce you to Lindsay Ransom.
Hi Lindsay, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My career technically started in 2015. But if I am being honest, it truly started with the birth of my first child in 2012. I gave birth to him in the local hospital and during pregnancy I just did what everyone does. I found an Obstetrician, I did what they told me, I took the hospital birth class, I went in, I gave birth, and went home with my baby. But it wasn’t simple. There is so much more [trauma] to that story. And now, I can appreciate the experience for bringing me to my calling.
In 2015, I learned about doulas and the role they play in families’ birthing experiences. And I knew that I never wanted anyone else to have the same experience that I had during my hospital birth. So, I found a program that was all online and would certify me as a doula. I completed it over a year and thanks to some of my friends giving birth around the same time as I was finishing, I was able to put my skills/knowledge to use.
In the following year, I co-founded the only doula collective in northern Utah, I led a postpartum “Climb out of the darkness” hike to raise money for perinatal mental health awareness. I was featured in the local paper to help educate the community about doulas & I persisted in bringing awareness to the valley about doula care. But, in the back of my mind, I always knew there was more. I knew I wanted to play a more integral role in supporting growing families. Someone once asked if I ever considered becoming a midwife, to which I replied ” I don’t want that much responsibility.” Those were my famous last words.
In 2017, we relocated to Mesa, AZ for my husband’s job. Where I intended to grow my doula career. While supporting a mother in the hospital setting, and after the turn of events that occurred; I knew that creating space for empowered, joyful, respected, dignified, informed, and trauma-informed care, alongside a “healthy mom and baby”, were the missing elements in modern maternity care. I was left feeling like I couldn’t bear to attend another birth in the medical system because they all seemed to end the same way. Like picking up the pieces after a train wreck.
Despite how much time, effort, and love was poured into helping mothers & their partners prepare for their ideal birth experience. It was then that I knew that the medical-industrial complex was not meant for birthing when someone is healthy & considered low-risk. I left the birth asking myself, “What can I do to support these people BEFORE they enter into the system?” And the answer was suddenly crystal clear, “Midwife.” That thought terrified me. It was truly in divine timing, that I realized I am meant to serve families in a capacity that is much greater than me and leaves a profound impact that lasts generation after generation.
Over a few days, I started to entertain the idea more & more. I started to search for information about becoming a midwife through the traditional route of the North American Registry of Midwives apprenticeship process. And I had never felt so sure about something in my life. Suddenly, door after door of opportunity opened up. I knew that it was meant to be.
I began my apprenticeship process at a local, high-volume birth center in Gilbert, AZ in 2018. And I never looked back. I took a small break in 2020 to give birth to my second son and I licensed as a midwife in the state of Arizona in April of 2021. I had worked alongside a few other homebirth midwives after having finished my apprenticeship & before licensing. Shortly after licensing my husband and I decided we wanted to move back to Cache Valley.
I knew there was a need for midwives in the community. So, we made the trek back in August 2021. I hit the ground running from there. I had a local doula friend who helped refer some of her clients to me and from there, my business grew. I went from doing all in-home visits, to a small office in my house, and eventually, I landed at my office space now, located inside of True Health and Wellness Center.
It has been an exciting honor to serve the communities of Box Elder, Cache, and Franklin counties. I am very conscientious & intentional about the care I provide mothers & their newborns with. Resulting in healthier experiences, trauma-free, and happier outcomes. Accompanying women/families through this life transition has a momentous impact on the family unit -which lasts for generations.
My care is unique because I build trusting relationships with these families through time and with attention to the details that make the biggest impact. I provide comprehensive prenatal and postpartum care by risk-assessing & monitoring throughout their care. Mothers are aware of their options, educated, and feel heard and safe while supported as the primary decision-makers of their care. Statistically, low-risk healthy women and women of color are more likely to have lower odds of intervention, including cesarean, and lower odds of severe morbidity in labor and birth.
And there is no statistically significant difference in neonatal outcomes. Our community should know they have options and be supported in their choices, including where they give birth. Bodily autonomy is imperative to the health of our society.
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
There have been plenty of obstacles along the way. Starting with finishing my apprenticeship during covid, then giving birth and being postpartum as a brand-new midwife.
There have been times when I considered quitting and found myself asking whether I wanted to continue down this path. There’s a thin veil between life and death, and as humans in our culture, we have lost the respect that pregnancy and birth demand. With pregnancy and birth, our society only envisions a “healthy mom and baby”, without giving much thought (understandably) to all possible outcomes.
Death happens though, both in hospital and out of hospital. But the stakes are higher as a licensed midwife with no backing of an entire hospital corporation and insurance companies, or a surgical suite down the hall. Emergencies can and do happen. And these situations take a toll on a midwife’s heart.
Outside of that, there’s the on-call life and everything that entails (like finding childcare at odd hours, being away from family for long periods, leaving special events at a moment’s notice, etc.) As a solo midwife, who also performs most of the behind-the-scenes business tasks, it’s a lot of hats to wear and balls to juggle. I trained to provide clinical care and I have had to learn the administrative side & business building all on my own.
As you know, we’re big fans of Indigo Midwifery, LLC. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
I have an intentionally small homebirth practice, with two assistants & plan to expand with more providers. I provide homebirth midwifery care as a licensed direct-entry midwife in the state of Utah & Idaho. We offer postpartum services to anyone needing postpartum support, regardless of where they are born. We also offer placenta encapsulation, preconception guidance, miscarriage support, & some well-woman care. I also host two midwifery assistant workshops per year.
As a licensed midwife, I guide, educate, and care for mothers, creating a safe container, so that they can feel & integrate the positive effects of their perinatal experience. In return, helping to heal the future generations, while returning birth to its essence. By providing informed, personalized, safe, & comprehensive care. So that families can discover what it’s like to have a holistic, pleasurable, and healing experience.
I believe what sets me apart is my passion for health & nutrition. I provide extra screening & counseling to get a better picture of the mother’s health, from a more functional & root-cause approach, so that she can take preventative measures to help increase her chances of a healthy pregnancy and baby. I am also certified in trauma-informed care & am continuing my education in this area to better support women who are birthing with PTSD/CPTSD. Lastly, I place a large focus on postpartum support.
I provide personalized care. Some business teachings tout the importance of providing a service in a fixed vacuum. To streamline the business or provide consistency. But with this line of work, we are working with unique individuals who have differing needs. It doesn’t make sense to, nor does it benefit my clients to treat them all the same. We plan for the postpartum, and prenatally. Then offer 6 visits in the postpartum where we not only provide clinical care, but also emotional support, guidance with newborn care or physical health, meals, womb massage, lactation support, and refer to other local resources for more specialized care.
I am proud of building my business and brand from the ground up. I am proud of being a provider that other medical providers know, refer to, and trust. I am proud of the families I support, who trust me with their care and are brave enough to follow their hearts and make choices that serve them. It is a great honor to be a midwife, to experience the closest thing to heaven on Earth.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
Since covid, homebirth has exploded. In Utah, the out-of-hospital birth rate is at 4.35% and has been steadily growing. People are realizing they have options, demanding better care, and voting with their dollars.
Medical providers, blue-collar families, families from lower socio-economic communities, prominent members of society, and all walks of life are choosing home birth. This is no longer “just the hippies” choosing homebirth, it’s for everyone. As long as the Western medical model continues to perform the same, I believe we will see a growing trend of homebirth and midwifery care.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.indigomidwifery.com
- Instagram:@indigo.midwifery
Image Credits
Eva Cooper, Carey Lauren, and Chelsea Lemonds
