Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kara Dubois. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Kara, so great to have you with us and thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts with the community. So, let’s jump into something that stops so many people from going after their dreams – haters, nay-sayers, etc. We’d love to hear about how you dealt with that and persisted on your path.
I am a midwife. Historically midwives have always been marginalized. Think about the Salem witch trials. Many of these women were midwives and alternative healers. Most midwives are women. We are nurturing caregivers. This is the perfect personality trait that many midwives have, just by being women!
Midwives are experts in low risk pregnancies and birth. Most pregnancies are low risk and not medical at all. Our country’s healthcare is driven by medicine and profit. Without actually caring for individuals. This model does not work with something so personal as walking along beside woman during her pregnancy, birth and postpartum.
Eight years ago one of my midwife colleagues, Julie Gorenc, and I started our own midwifery practice. We were the first in the Kansas City area to have our own midwife practice delivering in the hospital setting. We worked countless hours trying to get commercial insurance payers to contract with us. We were often met with a strong “No” because we weren’t physicians or employed by physicians. Physicians saw us as competition and wondered if we could legally do what we were doing. Hospitals didn’t feel we were valuable to their service line as we didn’t generate much money for them and the physicians didn’t want us there. Thankfully, we had the support of each other to keep us going. We believe passionately in what we do.
Five years ago we transitioned to homebirth. We were able to walk away from many negative and non-supportive situations once we made that change. One of the best decisions!
It is the beautiful relationships that I develop with the families that I serve that keeps me going! Joy and so many blessings. Watching families grow. Observing their children participate in their prenatal visits and the birth.
I also have an amazingly supportive family. My husband is my biggest cheerleader. He is always so interested in my stories. He is also a shoulder to cry on during the tough and sad times. Being married to a midwife isn’t always easy. Plans are made knowing that I may need to leave at a moments notice for a birth. He is always so understanding when that happens, knowing I’m needed elsewhere. I know I can count on him to hold down the fort when I’m away.
My four children don’t know any different than having a midwife as a mom. Sometimes I don’t think they like to share their own birthday with another baby that decides to come into the world that day. Over time I think they are able to see how rewarding a career can be when you serve others. I think my career as a midwife and business owner has helped me to be a positive influence on my children.
There is also my parents. Always willing to pitch in and help with rides for my kids and anything else I might need. They are always willing to listen to my struggles, because there sure are some!
Most important, my faith keeps me going. My path personally and professionally hasn’t always been easy. I believe that difficult roads do lead to the most beautiful destinations. I remain faithful and go where my heart and God lead me.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
My Midwife Practice is Midwife Partners in Women’s Wellness, LLC We have an office in the Home Holistic building in downtown Overland Park
7927 Floyd St, Overland Park, KS 66204
Phone: 913-544-2560
Midwifepartners.net
We offer a meet the midwives session every other Thursday at noon in our office.
Dates and sign up can be found on the Home Holistic web site: homeholistic.com
We also offer individual consultations for families interested in homebirth
I am part of my own midwife homebirth practice. My business partner is Julie Gorenc. We have worked tougher for 20 years now! We have had our own midwife practice now for 8 years.
The amount of women seeking homebirth is gradually growing. We did see a spike in interest during COVID with women not wanting to birth in a hospital. I do think COVD helped people re-think going to the hospital when they are healthy. Women are looking for less unnecessary interventions in their prenatal care and birth. They seek a positive and supportive and personal relationship with their caregivers.
We offer a very personal experience. We spend a lot more time with our clients at their visits so we can get to know them better and develop a mutually trusting relationship.
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 quite a bit of formal education: Bachelor of Science in Nursing
Bachelor of Medical Science (physician assistant)
Masters of science in nursing (nurse midwife)
After I transitioned to providing homebirth I obtained my CPM (certified practical midwife) certification. Most homebirth midwives are CPMs
If someone knows they want to be a midwife offering homebirth services, it may be more beneficial to go the CPM route vs CNM (certified nurse midwife) route. I recommend speaking with CNMs and CPMs about what your career goals are to help you decide best path.
My above education has given me a very good general medicine foundation. This is still very helpful even as a midwife and working in women’s health. I am thankful for all of the education I have. I think it helps me guide women when referral or other treatments out of the midwife specialty are needed.
Most certified nurse midwives attend hospital birth. I did this for 15 years. I do feel the experience and knowledge I gained in the hospital setting has been extremely helpful in the homebirth setting. Midwives know normal very well, which helps us decide when something has deviated from “normal”. Attending at least 1000 births in the hospital setting gave me very valuable experience. It is critical to attend a large amount of births in order to see compilations and learn to manage them.
Tell us what your ideal client would be like?
We do meet with most of our potential clients prior to them hiring us. If we don’t meet in person, we often talk on the phone or do a video meeting. They get to meet us and ask questions and see what kind of rsport there is.
My ideal client has a strong belief that pregnancy and childbirth are normal and healthy parts of life. An understanding that deviations from low risk are very rare. They need to trust in pregnancy, birth and their bodies. Homebirth probably isn’t best for women who are fearful about the birthing process. Women thrive at home when that is where they feel the most comfortable laboring and birthing. There are many women who have a fear of hospital and interventions. Maybe they’ve never been a patient in the hospital or they may have had a bad experience in the hospital. Homebirth is very appealing to them.
Contact Info:
- Website: Midwifepartners.net
- Instagram: Midwifepartnershomebirth
- Facebook: @midwife partners in womens wellness
- Youtube: @midwifepartners5080
Image Credits
First 3 pictures: Honey Works Photography 4th picture: Hannah Deer Photography
