Dear friends and clients of Gentle Delivery,        

I’m not sure how time passes so quickly: here we find ourselves at the close of yet another year. It’s always good to take a bit of time to reflect over some of the highlights and challenges, and I’m once again grateful for those of you who have invited me to be part of your family’s story in such a special way.

The past year was intentionally a slower one when it comes to the number of babies I was privileged to welcome. I continue to find that life has various seasons, and trying to navigate how to focus more on my own children versus putting more energy into midwifery is a real part of life right now. As my children grow, the need for mom’s focus and presence seems to be more intense (in a different way than during the years when they were all tiny!), which in turn has caused me to pull back from too busy of a midwifery schedule. We also took some time this year for some out-of-the ordinary events such as Joel and I celebrating our 15^th wedding anniversary, spending several days at a missions conference in Pittsburgh, a week-long trip to Mexico (visiting missionaries who are part of the ministry Joel works for), several camping/family trips, and then our most recent opportunity: spending 5 weeks in Thailand while Joel attended an international Bible Translation conference and then spent several weeks teaching at a missions training school for young people. This trip was such a rich opportunity and we have returned home with many amazing memories!

When it comes to babies in 2025, there were many sweet little footprints added to the board in the office. While some years include mostly repeat clients, this year I worked with quite a few families for the first time. The smallest baby weighed in at 6#15oz and the largest at 8#15oz, and these newborns ranged from being the first baby in the family to the fifth.

Births weren’t the only aspect of my midwifery work this past year: I also spent time working on renewing my Certified Professional Midwife credential for the 5^th time, making this 16 years since I became certified. I was also involved in editing & looking over an exam that another group of midwives is putting together for a certifying agency. This was a great opportunity to brush up on fine details and give input on what is important for newly graduated midwives to be familiar with. I also ended up doing quite a bit of long-distance communication with women who are serving on the mission field or are in areas without midwifery care, so all of these opportunities keep me continually studying and learning so that I can pass on help to others!

As I think about all it takes to provide midwifery care, I want to give a shout-out to the amazing assistants who drop everything at a moment’s notice to come assist me at births! These ladies do so much to make your birth experiences good ones, and I’m thankful to have Lanna, Emily, Janine and others willing to help out. One highlight of this year was when my own daughter Yoanna was invited to join me at a birth. She’s dreamed of training to be an assistant for years, and this was such a delightful experience for her. As we head into the next year, I plan to involve her more, as she has had the opportunity this fall to take a basic Neonatal resuscitation class as well as doing quite a bit of specific study in the field of midwifery. I’ve always hoped that one of my daughter’s might want to join me, and I’m excited about involving her more when it works out.

In closing, just a reminder that you can find quite a few helpful articles and links listed on the Gentle Delivery website, so be sure to check it out. Use the search bar function to look for topics you might need information about, and please feel free to pass these links on to friends! Our summer play date was a huge success, so stay tuned for more of those to happen in 2026 as I hope to get these on a more regular schedule again. If you want to be added to the email list for playgroup invites, send me a message and ask to be added to the list: gentlemidwife@gmail.com. Be sure to add the addresses of any friends who may want to join, as these are not limited to Gentle Delivery clients but are intended to build up the local homebirth community. May each of you have a blessed Christmas season!

~Kelsey Martin/Gentle Delivery Midwifery