Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Petrone and Sarafina Kennedy.
Jessica and Sarafina, please share your story with us.
We have been in practice together since 2008, greeting around 50 new babies into the world each year! As the birth team, we work together to provide full spectrum prenatal care and homebirth services to the families of Boston and the greater Boston area. We share a common philosophy and strong desire to support the women within our community.
Jessica: Midwifery came into my heart after the births of my children. As a mom of four, I have had a variety of experiences; both doctor and midwife, hospital and home births. These experiences moved me in the direction of doing birth work. I went to nursing school and midwifery school to specialize in attending births at home. As a midwife, I hold onto the traditional skills and holistic care but also embrace the tools and technology of modern maternity care. I have a very balanced approach to care!
Sarafina: I grew up hearing my own birth story and how my mom had a woman who helped her during labor by doing massage and labor support. I was totally intrigued by the role this woman played for my mom. She was a doula, although I didn’t know that word until I went to graduate school in Boston. I attended my first birth in 2005 after training as a doula. I graduated from midwifery school and have done extensive work abroad caring for high-risk women in low resource settings.
Our philosophy of birth is that it is a safe, natural, beautiful and powerful process for women and families. In addition, we view midwifery as a very important aspect of reproductive choice for women: in the same way that women may choose to have to have their babies in the hospital, they should also have the option to birth at home, and have a full range of choices throughout the birth. We believe that a midwife, as a woman supporting other women and their families in childbirth, plays an empowering and important role in helping to create the birth a woman desires. A midwife is solidly allied with women; she listens to women and trusts birth. She is skilled and professional. She is also loving, nurturing and caring.
Has it been a smooth road?
There are definitely some challenges in being a midwife! We are on-call 24/7 most of the year. We contend with blizzards, Nor’easters and Boston traffic! The work itself is incredibly unpredictable. Extremely rewarding but babies come when they want.
Sometimes it’s hard to work outside the framework of a hospital. And while there’s been exponential growth in midwifery and homebirth, it’s still a small percentage of families choosing it. Many hospital-based providers have a healthy amount of skepticism and lack of knowledge about homebirth. Many are surprised to learn that we provide the standard of care including all the routine procedures and tests.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
Homebirth is our specialty. We offer a high standard of care, personalized for each woman and her particular preferences. We are patient and knowledgeable, always approachable too. Our clients have access to us 24/7. Our appointments take place in the home and we have flexible hours.
We are very well connected to many resources within the Boston area to enhance the prenatal experience. We connect women with massage therapists, acupuncturists, childbirth educators and other specialty clinicians with expertise in working with pregnant women.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
We love working in Boston! We have a diverse clientele, a beautiful landscape and a flourishing practice. There’s a need for more midwives!
Contact Info:
- Address: 294 Pleasant Street Stoughton, MA 02072
- Website: www.homebirthmatters.com
- Phone: 5082544424
- Email: birthmatters@gmail.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BirthMattersMidwifery/
Image Credit:
Lisa Gendron; Elaine Bezold
Getting in touch: BostonVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
Amy Horan
April 14, 2018 at 1:20 am
These girls are so amazing! They have been with our family for the pre-natal care, births and maybe the most helpful part of a homebirth, the help and care after baby is born (thank you for all the help with breastfeeding!), of our first three children, all have been different and amazing experiences! We look forward to our fourth babe in the future to have another perfect experience!! Thank you Jessica and Sarafina! We love you.