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Aimee has been attending births since 1991.
She entered the field by becoming a certified natural childbirth instructor, and she taught the Bradley Method ™ classes for seven years. (Aimee is officially “retired” as a Bradley teacher, however, she does offer “crash courses” and “refresher” courses for previous Bradley graduates, occasionally, when families are unable to find another instructor.)
In her first year as a childbirth instructor, Aimee began attending some of her student’s births, and then she completed the course and field work to become certified through ALACE (Association of Labor Assistants and Childbirth Educators) as a Professional Labor Assistant. Over the past 16 years, Aimee has attended the births of over 260 babies, including several sets of twins and breeches, both at home and at the hospital. Much of her practice now focuses on helping those women who desire a vaginal birth after cesarean, a safe and sane alternative to the repeat cesarean.
Aimee works with families who birth at home, either with certified nurse midwives or direct-entry/CP midwives, as well as with families who choose birth centers and hospital settings. Aimee also attends families who choose waterbirths, and assists clients in obtaining birthing pools, when desired.
Aimee has professional experience at the following area hospitals: Alexandria, Fair Oaks, Fairfax, George Washington University, Georgetown University, Loudon, Potomac, Reston, Shady Grove, Sibley, Virginia Hospital Center (formerly Arlington), Washington Adventist, and Washington Hospital Center. Aimee has taught the volunteer doulas at Sibley Hospital, as well as serving as a speaker for doula training programs in Northern Virginia.
In addition to serving as a professional labor assistant, Aimee also works as a midwife’s assistant for BirthCare and Women’s Health Center in Alexandria, a certified nurse-midwifery group providing exclusively out-of-hospital birth experiences. In this capacity, in addition to the training and certifications required to practice as a professional labor assistant, Aimee also maintains certifications in CPR (Health Care Provider) and Neonatal Resuscitation. Aimee is further trained to listen to and assess fetal heart tones and take maternal vital signs. In her practice, Aimee uses a waterproof Doppler or a fetascope to listen to fetal heart tones, in accordance with the family’s desire, as circumstances permit.
After serving for seven years as a volunteer leader with La Leche League International, Inc. (the world’s foremost authority on breastfeeding), Aimee has maintained her credential as an International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) for more than five years. All of Aimee’s birth clients receive pre-and post-natal support and instruction in the establishment of the breastfeeding relationship. Years of personal breastfeeding experience also serve as an important resource from which Aimee can draw. Aimee birthed all three of her children naturally, without medication: the first, in a hospital; the last two, at home.
Following the change in the laws of the State of Virginia (December 2005), which now allow Certified Professional Midwives to be licensed to provide prenatal and birth services for families desiring home births, Aimee has completed the clinical work required to become a Certified Professional Midwife, and she has passed the Skills Assessment (a hands-on demonstration of a variety of midwifery skills administered by the North American Registry of Midwives). She is currently working as Primary Midwife under the Supervision of a Licensed Certified Professional Midwife. Aimee anticipates applying for her Virginia license after she sits for the final written examination to complete the requirements to become a CPM.