Debbie Wong, CPM

I was born in New York City at Albert Einstein Hospital.  Although my parents were born at home in China and Hong Kong, for much of my life I didn't know that homebirth was an option for women in the United States.  It wasn’t until my 20s, when I was working as a park ranger at Badlands National Park, South Dakota that I met a midwife and learned homebirths were a possibility.  The midwife was traveling through the park on her way to the Pine Ridge Reservation to provide midwifery care to the Lakota women who lived in that area. She told me that midwives were in great need because the rural location forced women to travel away from their homes, 90 miles away to Rapid City, to give birth.  She said that in the Rapid City hospitals the women generally did not receive culturally sensitive care. This meeting left me completely intrigued with midwifery.

My journey into midwifery started approximately five years after I met the Pine Ridge midwife.  During that time I was finishing my MS in Biology at Northern Arizona University.  Over a course of a semester I made several realizations about pregnancy and birth in our culture.  I realized in our culture pregnancy and birth are very much baby centered.  I realized that there is very little care that focuses primarily on the mother.  I realized that women often times will choose to place the care of her family before taking care of herself.  I realized, while birth is a family event, it is first and foremost a process a woman has in becoming a mother.  I realized one of the most fulfilling things I can do is to provide mother centered care that reflects the importance of pregnancy and birth in her life. 

At the time of this writing, I have attended over 100 births.  Many of these births were during my apprenticeship at Alma Midwifery, Portland, Oregon, and the year following when I served in the role of Assistant Midwife.  Although I worked primarily with one midwife, I had the opportunity to work with four other Alma midwives.  Apprenticing and working in a large midwifery practice exposed me to different styles of practicing and allowed me learn in a collaborative environment.  I have had the joyous honor to serve first time mothers, second and third time mothers, mothers seeking a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean), mothers who gave birth in water, their bedrooms, in their yard, and in any position they choose.  I have loved forming relationships with each of my clients, discovering their life histories, being amazed by their bodies ability to give birth and witnessing how a new life being is incorporated into their family. 

While apprenticing, I attended Birthingway College of Midwifery and earned a Bachelor’s degree in Midwifery in 2009.  While not all midwives choose to attend a formal education program, I choose this route because I enjoy a systematic approach to learning and the program created a community of student midwives that was empathic to our classmate’s experience.  Oregon, due to its laws that support midwifery, has created an atmosphere that promotes out of hospital birth as a safe option for women.  Midwives by being able to practice openly, are able to learn the skills needed to attend normal births and form good relationships with the medical community.  This in turn allows us to provide the best possible care for the women we serve.  Having worked in the  supportive and nurturing atmosphere of Alma, Birthingway, and of greater Portland and Oregon midwives, I’m leaving Oregon with feeling both competent and confident. 

At the beginning of 2010 I traveled for three months in the Mexican province of Chiapas, and in the western highlands of Guatemala.  In both places I meet local Mayan midwives and had the honor to work with Dona Ana in Buena Vista, Guatemala.  Buena Vista is located approximately 1 hour away from Quetzeltenango and is populated by Mayans who primarily speak Mam, one of the over 50 unique Mayan languages.  Dona Ana became a midwife when she was 14 years old and started attending births with her mother who was also a midwife.  Dona Ana is a very traditional midwife in the sense that she provides care to her entire community, not just pregnant women.  While spending time with Dona Ana, I attended her appointments with her and had the great honor of welcoming a baby boy and a baby girl.  While there was a large language barrier between the laboring women and myself, we both spoke limited Spanish, smiles, light touch, and presence are universal.  Each of the two women labored in a stoic manner and did not have many outward expressions that communicated the intensity of their labor.  One mother was laboring for the first time and the other her sixth.  Each where overwhelmed with relief and joy when their baby was born. 

This summer, in preparation for my move to Charlottesville, I am working on a train in Alaska.  While riding on a route between Anchorage and Fairbanks I have the chance to meet and visit with people from throughout the United States and abroad.  While sharing our stories, I have listened to birth stories, heard their amazement that homebirth and midwifery is a legal choice in only some states, and have had the wonderful opportunity to advocate for out of hospital birth. 

In my off time, I enjoy knitting, traveling, increasing my local restaurant knowledge, and flitting away time reading romance novels and hula-hooping.

I look forward to meeting you, having the opportunity to get to know you, welcoming your baby, and being the newest midwife at Mountain View Midwives.