Liz O'Shea, Midwife and CCE(BWI), began her midwifery journey out of a deep desire to share the joy of birthing at home. She wanted all women to experience what it is like to feel the innate power within them to give birth. Following her first home birth in 1982, she began studying to be a birth assistant in Rahima Baldwin’s Informed Homebirth course. Liz’s passion for learning about normal birth continued through her own home births and as she raised her six children. Liz was certified as an A.L.A.C.E. Doula and later as a BirthWorks International Childbirth Educator, so she started teaching childbirth education. As Co-Founder of BirthWorks Birth Doula Program, she trained and mentored many of our birth doula students. After attending births as a doula in hospital and home settings, she found the opportunity to apprentice with several homebirth midwives who shared their knowledge of traditional midwifery. She began an independent practice in 2000, and along with her daughter, Emily, formed the first Birth Circle of Frederick, MD, USA. Encouraged by her mentors, she applied for and obtained certification through the North American Registry of Midwives in 2007, and her midwifery home birth practice has been very active for two decades. Liz has been a significant Board Member at Large and is now an Honorary Board Member. In the future, when she takes fewer clients as a midwife, she plans to return as a Birth Doula Trainer, and we would welcome her back as a Board Member as well. We are grateful for all she does for BirthWorks! She continues to make a difference in many ways for our birth doulas and for many parents.
Liz O’Shea
Liz O’Shea, Midwife and CCE(BWI), began her midwifery journey out of a deep desire to share the joy of birthing at home. She wanted all women to experience what it is like to feel the innate power within them to give birth. Following her first home birth in 1982, she began studying to be a birth assistant in Rahima Baldwin’s Informed Homebirth course. Liz’s passion for learning about normal birth continued through her own home births and as she raised her six children. Liz was certified as an A.L.A.C.E. Doula and later as a BirthWorks International Childbirth Educator, so she started teaching childbirth education. As Co-Founder of BirthWorks Birth Doula Program, she trained and mentored many of our birth doula students. After attending births as a doula in hospital and home settings, she found the opportunity to apprentice with several homebirth midwives who shared their knowledge of traditional midwifery. She began an independent practice in 2000, and along with her daughter, Emily, formed the first Birth Circle of Frederick, MD, USA. Encouraged by her mentors, she applied for and obtained certification through the North American Registry of Midwives in 2007, and her midwifery home birth practice has been very active for two decades. Liz has been a significant Board Member at Large and is now an Honorary Board Member. In the future, when she takes fewer clients as a midwife, she plans to return as a Birth Doula Trainer, and we would welcome her back as a Board Member as well. We are grateful for all she does for BirthWorks! She continues to make a difference in many ways for our birth doulas and for many parents.
