Inspiring Conversations with Kimberley Homer of Crowning Midwifery, Birth Services, and Beyond

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kimberley Homer.

Hi Kimberley, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
As a child, I had no clue what a Midwife was! Never really been around birth or babies growing up, let alone a Midwife. I was born and raised in Miami, FL., which gave me access to many things. None of those things included Midwives or Midwifery care, BUT I always had a concept…even dreamt of what birth should look like! I filed that as being a child with a wild, creative, free imagination. When it came to learning how to care for others, my mother was that example.

A revelation hit me as I was about to enter my 10th management year with a fortune 10 company. I remembered always encouraging others to follow their dreams and aspirations they had and realized I needed to do the same. Remember, I always had wild dreams! I asked myself what did I want to be when I was 5… 10… 15… 20 years old, and the answer remained the same. A Midwife.

Now mind you, I was a working a job with great benefits and “security.” I’ll tell you this though, the night before my last day, working this “wonderful” job as the closing manager, I was scared. Here we are, Friday night, (I start school Monday) and I’m asking God am I making the right decision, and ready to make a deal of going part time…just all these frantic thoughts. And then here we go, 5 minutes before closing, confirmation. A group of people a browsing and I ask if they need help. They responded with, “No, we’re just getting pricing.” I let them know we close soon, and one of the men from the group circles back. He sees me doing some sweeping (we had a call out that day.) I ask how can I assist him, and he asks me what am I doing here. I let him know we had a call out so I’m helping with closing this department. He says, “That’s not what I mean. You’re not suppose to be working here, and if you don’t follow the path that God has laid out before you, there will be a lot of blood on your hands.” (He told me a few other confirming things too, but I’ll keep that for me.) Once he said that, I said deuces to the job,my old life, and never looked back!

As I said, I really didn’t know what a Midwife was. I hadn’t been around pregnant women, nor babies! I’ve never even met a Midwife, nor seen one on television! It was truly a dream, or more so a calling. My life experiences, unbeknownst to me, prepared me for this journey. The volunteering, community building, the patience passed down to me, the compassion I had for the vulnerable, my desire to encourage, my ability to recognize untapped strength, and my passion to educate.

I found the courage to leave behind a life of “security” for what was unknown. I enrolled in a local midwifery school, and the next 3 years were an overwhelming, awe-inspiring, focus-filled blur. Here’s a golden nugget though…halfway through Midwifery school, I ran into a childhood friend and we started catching up. When I let her know I was halfway through Midwifery school, her knees went weak and eyes favored those of a deer in headlights. I asked what was wrong, but she told me something that was oh so right. She said “Kim, I remember when we were like 7 years old, and you would talk about how you were going to have a baby, in the woods, by the river, with us holding hands while singing, and then you will catch babies for the rest of your life.” It was my turn to have the eyes of a deer in headlights, and bottom lip on the ground! For some of us, our paths were chosen before we were even a thought in this world! Life became that much sweeter!

Once I completed schooling, I remained in Miami for an additional 3 years to work with amazing, talented, rooted in knowledge, community midwives. During that span of time, working at 3 birth centers, with 11 different Midwives, and driving anywhere from West Palm Beach, down to the Keys, to assist families, gave me the type of training and experience that typical midwifery graduates haven’t been exposed to.

Once my mentors bestowed upon me the knowledge, wisdom, and skill I aimed to attain in my continued learning, I had the confidence and was ready to relocate to a place and space where there wasn’t access to diverse or Black out of hospital midwives. That is what lead me to North Florida in 2018!

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The journey to becoming a Midwife was not smooth in any way whatsoever! Whew… that is when I learned the real meaning of trials and tribulations!

While in school, I was on call 48 hours a week (in which I was called in 80-90% of the time); clinical 8 hours a week; teaching childbirth education classes 3 hours a week; working at the birth center 28 hours a week; being a postpartum doula, placenta encapsulation specialist, and yoni steam facilitator; not having a fully functioning vehicle and having to ride my bicycle 10 miles in conjunction with taking public transportation; paying for school out of pocket; no family support; losing so-called friends; graduating by myself, AND never missed a birth!

Becoming a Midwife was no joke! Most times I was too tired to cry, but when I cried, the flood gates opened!

So, Lesson #1 – You can do ANYTHING, literally ANYTHING, when you commit to it! Commitment doesn’t make it easy, it makes it tangible!

Lesson #2 – Your personal growth will make or break family dynamics, friendships, and relationships! (People in the back, read that twice!)

Lesson #3 – Choose happiness and celebrate yourself! Love yourself more each day!

Lesson #4 – Be accountable for yourself! You set the bar for you!

Lesson #5 – Every part of you matters! Physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually…all of you matters!

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Crowning Midwifery, Birth Services, and Beyond PLLC?
My practice, Crowning Midwifery provides holistic midwifery services in Jacksonville, as well as other parts of North Florida. We provide individualized, culturally competent care during the childbearing cycle. From preconception counseling, in-home prenatal care, home birth (yes, water birth too), and up to 6 weeks postpartum care.

Everyone’s childbearing cycle calls for something different, and that’s exactly what you’re given! Reconnecting the mind-body and spirit, and making you an active member of your care and decision making! The skills and services that help to set me apart include, being an herbal alchemist with my own apothecary, hands-on nutritional information, being a placenta encapsulation specialist, yoni steam facilitator, and having been certified with fitness associations. If you check out my social media, you’ll see moments of how I engage with my clients and their families!

What I’m most proud of is being able to honor different cultural backgrounds and incorporating each individual tradition tailored towards that background! It is important to me, especially as a Black Haitian American, to honor lineage!

Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
For anyone who is curious about becoming a Midwife, the advice I would give is to first and foremost, know that this is a craft. Just because you complete school, doesn’t mean you are ready. Take your time learning this field, while honoring the families who allow you into their sacred space.

Don’t do it for the money! If you’re in it or want to get in it for the money, you will have the rudest awakening! Don’t do it for the gram! Birth is beautiful, especially those wonderful pictures you get to see, but there is A LOT of work done that you’re not privy to! Lastly, there is a difference between being called by a profession, and choosing a profession.

Don’t let your own trauma guide you into Midwifery!

Contact Info:

• Email: crowningmidwifery@gmail.com
• Website: https://www.crowningmidwifery.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crowningmidwifery/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/crowningmidwifery
• Twitter: https://www.Twitter.com/crowningmidwife
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UC_60WROm_T0AZ1GI6zhSQBg