Meet Sierra Holland

We recently connected with Sierra Holland and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Sierra, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?

For much of my life, my “purpose” was defined by others around me – by which I mean that the expectation in both academics and extracurriculars like sports and music was usually achievement and carving out time for joy or playfulness was not prioritized. All at once I found myself nearing completion of my PhD with little idea about what I wanted to do to impact the world around me. I had spent years researching queer family-building and, as I can see now, had been steadfastly ignoring the signals that I needed to make a change in where my efforts were focused; the more I learned about how other members of my community had struggled to find affirming healthcare, the more I opened up to the idea that my purpose might be to create more opportunities for that specific need to be fulfilled. And so, a queer midwife was born. Not all at once, of course – as I look back on my formative years spent on my family horse farm, with a vet nurse-turned-labor and delivery nurse for a mother, I can see the through line. My own challenges in accessing queer-affirming healthcare as a younger person in a more rural area have strongly influenced my deep community roots in Maine as well as my desire to provide full-scope midwifery care throughout the reproductive lifespan – especially for queer and trans folks. But although much of my purpose comes from my work in the community, there is equal purpose in my family life, as I truly believe that change in the world will require change in how we relate to one another as much as it will a structural reckoning. On any given day, “purpose” may look like holding the hand of a person in labor or holding the hand of my wife as we hike through the forest with our dog.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I am a licensed midwife currently working in a radical, justice-focused group practice that provides the midcoast and southern Maine areas with full-scope midwifery care. That includes pregnancy and postpartum care and home birth and birth center birth but also holistic gynecology, preconception and fertility, abortion and loss, perimenopause, and other reproductive health needs and transitions. Most people don’t know that many community midwives (that is, those practicing outside of the hospital system) are equipped and excited to do so much more than catch babies, although that’s certainly a highlight of the job! The practice I get to work with every day is so special because we all truly value providing care that affirms and uplifts members of marginalized communities, especially queer and trans people, and are committed to creating accessibility in both midwifery care and midwifery education.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

I have no illusions of being a “self-made midwife” – this has been so completely a community-supported endeavor! From my wife to my chosen family to my teachers and trainers to, most vitally, my fellow queer people, I have been uplifted and supported in some many crucial ways along this journey. Finding a community of people who value collaboration, genuinely want others to succeed, and have an abundance mindset is key.

In terms of personal qualities, I am both persistent and self-disciplined, with strong internal motivation. These qualities look so different from person to person, though! It has been more important to me to identify how I work, learn, and grow and to move in that direction rather than to enact any specific vision of, say, “persistence” as a practice. And speaking of practice, a quality or skill is only useful if you are able to embody it!

Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?

Overwhelm and burnout as so, so common in healthcare, and I am privileged to have been able to choose and continue choosing things that make midwifery sustainable for me so I can (hopefully) continue doing this work for a long time. Recognizing that emotions live so deeply in our bodies, my response to overwhelm is often dynamic – walking, stretching, dancing, roller skating, hugging my wife, jumping in the water, etc. I tend to focus on moving the overload out of my body in a physical way so I can gain clarity and focus in my mind. Sometimes this isn’t possible, like when I am in an intense clinical situation with a client, and I use mindfulness and grounding skills that I have aided others in accessing as a doula and midwife in order to stay present. Often what causes feelings of overwhelm for me is the state of the world – the structural violence we are witnessing and the way it plays out on specific bodies – and I have to continually find my place to make an impact and then push myself a bit beyond that when and if I can.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://softcornermidwifery.com
• Instagram: @allbodiesbirth

Image Credits

Joshua Langlais; Alannah Finn; Angela Laferriere