Meet Nicole, Oliver, Eisley, and Emilia

Nicole is a work-at-home mom of three amazing kids.  She is the lead farmer on their small homestead.  Her day starts with feeding the animals, changing diapers, and making a gluten free breakfast, complete with fresh eggs from her chickens.  She then processes orders coming in from soon-to-be expecting parents with birth kits and various post-partum supplies. 
She is committed to informed choice in birth and supporting midwives and the midwifery model of care.  She is connected to a vast network of parents and groups.  The operations are central to her home in Michigan where packing and shipping occur.
When you order from Everything Birth, you are supporting a small, woman-owned company!



From the Beginning: Everything Birth, inc.
 


My first child was born in 1997, and at the time I was still contemplating grad school and what direction my career should take. The more research I did on birth, intervention, and the unbelievably high cesarean rate in the US, I knew that somehow I wanted my career to be involved with birth. I wasn’t sure what avenue I wanted to pursue(midwifery and home birth or MD/midwifery and hospital birth). Being a childbirth educator and doula are great ways to really find out where your passion and skills lie. In 1998, I attended my first hospital birth as a doula. The doctor was an advocate of birth choices and really showed how birth in the hospital CAN be. At that point I set my sites on becoming a midwife with a long term goal of going to medical school and helping change the birthing community at the hospital level.
In 2000, my second child was born. Within a few weeks I knew something was wrong and by the time she was 7 weeks old, we had spent 2 weeks in the hospital and she underwent her first major surgery. She was born with a rare liver disease called biliary atresia. By the time she was 15 months old, she needed a liver transplant to survive. I was tested and able to donate half of mine, but the road to recovery for her has been long with a lot of bumps. I have learned through her experience that medicine has a significant place in our lives, but it is even more important to me than ever before to promote choices in care.
Throughout the many hospitalizations of our daughter I have become an advocate for parents of sick children, and advocate for sick children, and an even stronger advocate for the rights of laboring mamas. Seeing the world of medicine from both ends has given me a unique view and one that many don’t get to have. In some ways, entering the medical world feels even more important to me since I can offer an experience that many don’t share. But ultimately, being able to go to the hospital with our daughter and be available for all of her health needs became my priority.
 In 2001, in an effort to still be involved in the birth world, I started a small resource center. Everything Birth was officially born! I held birth classes, hosted workshops, and gathered as much info about pregnancy, birth, and parenting I could get my hands on! I purchased my first Gentle Birth Pool to rent locally and started carrying a variety of natural parenting items. In 2003, our third child was born. Working from home became most important to me, as we continued to navigate the hospitals over a series of complications and a baby in tote. In the beginning of 2004, I purchased midwifesupplies.com (at the time known as Peaceful Beginnings) from a local friend, midwife, and soon to be mom. Helping midwives find the supplies they needed, putting together home birth kits, working with birth centers, and even working with hospital birth centers gave me the final push to make this business my calling.
I am fortunate to have all of these birth people in my life, and look forward to the occasional birth story with which I am blessed. My goal is to continue to advocate for informed birth choices, women’s rights, and the midwifery model of care. I support non-profits that stand by the same philosophy and started a Midwifery Cause to help promote these agencies of change.  
Thank you to all who make this so rewarding for me and my family. I look forward to many more years of birth advocacy!
Birth is more than a business, it’s personal.
 
Blessings,
Crystal

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