Fun Facts about Midwife Rachel Stapleton
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Name: Rachel Stapleton
Hometown: Minnetonka, MN
Family: I live with my husband, Erik in Uptown.
With HF since: July 2014
My role at HF: Midwife
Favorite thing when not at Health Foundations: I am a huge extrovert, so I love to do activities with friends and family. My favorite is probably going on walks around the lakes in Minneapolis.
Travel anywhere: I love to travel so this is a hard question, but probably either somewhere on the Mediterranean or somewhere in Northern Africa like Morocco.
Super Power: Teleportation-would love to be able to go anywhere in the world at any given time. (Also would be a good perk to get to births quickly :))
Inspiration to be a Midwife: I always envisioned myself working in pediatrics because I love working with kids and their families. However, for the summer of 2009, I had the opportunity to go work in a small jungle hospital in Indonesia. While there, the midwife offered the chance to be on call for births with her. Some may say I caught the labor bug from attending births, which definitely happened. The part though I really fell in love with was working with women in the neighboring villages for their pregnancy and women's health care. I realized how amazing women truly are and if we can empower women, they in turn can provide better care to themselves and their families. I came back to Minnesota and did additional practicums in obstetric care and this only further solidified my passion for midwifery.
What I love about Health Foundations: Hands down the relationships-both with the families that we work with and the colleagues that have become the best of friends and are more like family. I love the community aspect of the birth center. It is events like grand old day, the family picnic, and the holiday party that have become more like family reunions. I also of course love to attend births, which I often refer to as birthday parties. :) Most days, I truly do not feel like I am going to work. It is the women that I work with that make it feel not like a job at all, but rather a chance to see women rock at life on a regular basis. I am so fortunate to be able to call Health Foundations my midwifery home.
Birth Philosophy: I believe that birth is a natural process-not something to be feared. Birth is amazing. Women are amazing. Their bodies are amazing. No two births are the same. I often joke that the longer I work in the OB world, the less I can predict. Birth involves a tremendous amount of hard work, but watching women go through labor and birth and persevere time after time, is so empowering to me and it is always my hope that is also empowering to them. It is something that stays with women their whole lives.
Advice for Mamas: Know that you are truly amazing and that you can do amazing things even when you think you cannot. I get the privilege of seeing this unfold all of the time.