MEET THE MIDWIVES at AQUANATAL MIDWIFERY CARE!

Joyce Moxley Thomas, MHA, CPM, LM   Joyce is the wife of Carlton Thomas, co-founder of AquaNatal, and mother of 4 kids: 2 daughters and 2 sons:Jaye (24) - her little 2 ½ lb. miracle! Born at Loma Linda Medical Center, and Jordan (14) his own miracle after 22 weeks of bedrest & 6 wks premature! Joyce’s love of caring for “mommies & babies” started when she was a 15 year old “candy-striper” at Research Medical Center in Kansas City, where she received her nurses training.  But she knew then she didn’t want to be a nurse.  At 22 Joyce, as a young US Navy wife, started working with an Australian midwife and together they provided homebirth services to US Navy wives in Connecticut. After moving to San Diego, Joyce had a private homebirth practice, working with Dr. Richard Butcher a well-known homebirth physician at the time.  Together they authored the California Midwifery Pilot Project, HMPP #148 (1983), which would have trained & licensed midwives in 3-year community college-based programs 10 years before the midwives won licensing after decades of persecution & prosecution in California.  The present licensing law is based in part on HMPP #148.  Joyce and “Dr. B” helped over 200 homebirth babies into the world in the San Diego area 1978 – 1983.  The C-section rate was less than 4%. After earning a Masters Degree in Healthcare Administration from the University of LaVerne in 1987 and working in many aspects of healthcare administration, Joyce returned to midwifery in 2004, earning the Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) designation after graduating from the National College of Midwifery, Taos, NM.  It is one of the only degree-granting programs approved by the California Medical Board, which licenses midwives here  Joyce has worked in two birth centers:  The Natural Birth & Women's Center in Sherman Oaks, CA where she managed the labors and caught most of the babies for over 40 couples; and she worked for six weeks in the Casa de Naciemiento in El Paso, TX, where she was the "first" on primary midwife on over 30 cases. She was a local homebirth midwife in the Inland Empire prior to designing AquaNatal as the region’s only certified, specially-designed waterbirth center in 2008.

Elena Khatibi (Licensed Midwife) Elena Khatibi is the senior midwife in SCV established in 2001 at the Women’s Wellness Center on Lyons Ave in Newhall serving the Santa Clarita Valley, Antelope Valley, San Fernando Valley, Ventura and North Hollywood. Elena continues providing midwifery services at her new location the Aqua Natal Pregnancy Center. Elena is a California Licensed Midwife with over 25 years of clinical experience. She has the advantage of having extensive medical training and she is a licensed physician. Elena has delivered more than 1000 babies and specialized in water birth. She encourages her clients to explore the best available alternatives when choosing the setting of this most blessed event She is looking forward to assisting you and your family with the following services: complete maternity care and natural birth program that is safe, family centered holistic health promoting and cost effective.

Delrae Balgas, LM Sensitive personalized care from a wholistic approach by an experienced, licensed and certified professional midwife. A licensed and Certified Professional midwife who has attended more than 2,200 births, she is also a living legacy able to deliver up (literally) the entire continuum of birth and motherhood from teenage pregnancy through her 20s, 30s and finally, her 40s. There is a twenty-eight year difference between her first and last child, who is now eight, born when Balgas was 44. "My services include pregnancy through postpartum care, home birth and waterbirth with free use of a birthing spa." Other services include natural family planning, in office ultrasound, pku testing, lab services, annual paps and exams . We provide VBAC services, encouragement and support.

Kim Gross (student midwife) When I became pregnant with my son Griffin in 2002 I realized I had found my life's calling. I became passionate about the field of childbirth and wanted to help families have the best birth experience possible. I have been empowering and supporting families as an educator and doula since 2006. My background also includes lactation education, prenatal yoga training and birth advocacy training. I have had the privilege of attending 140 births as a doula and midwifery assistant/student, both in and out of the hospital. My passion to help women has ultimately led me to pursue a career as a midwife. I am a student of the National College of Midwifery and working closely with my preceptors, licensed midwives Joyce Moxley Thomas and Susan Barie to gain as much experience as I possibly can. I am so excited with where my life has taken me, I know my journey to midwifery will be fulfilling and so rewarding. Educating and supporting families is my deepest passion, my goal is to enrich the lives of every family I work with through knowledge, awareness and acceptance! When Kim is working at AquaNatal, she is a student midwife providing clinical support.

Angie Lowell (student midwife) Angie is an Army wife and mom to two girls. She is a DONA-certified birth doula and now a student midwife at AquaNatal. Angie is enrolled in the National College of Midwifery program (approved in California) and she studied Kinesiology at California State University, San Bernardino and hopes to put some of her knowledge and skills to use to help our moms and babies to have wonderful, healthy pregnancies and births.  When Angie is working at AquaNatal, she is a student midwife, rather than a doula, providing clinical support.

Gail Barella (student midwife) In 2000, a leading doctor in our area told me that I could not have any more children because of female complications. Because of his counsel, we were not as careful in our family planning. Consequently, I ended up pregnant when I was 44 years old. At that time, our only son (Aaron) was 17 and almost out of high school. We thought we were almost done with raising children. I had a successful bookkeeping business and was directing my focus on other phases of my life. This new phase was not what I had in mind. What a phase it has turned out to be! Because of the doctors' overzealous medical practice, I was not happy with how things were progressing in this fourth pregnancy. This time around, the doctors thought I would probably not be able to deliver naturally as with all the others. My husband and I were taking Bradley Classes. We learned about the role of midwives in class, so I asked my instructor for contact information of a few in our area. I thought I would just call a couple of them and talk. The first one was a bit too far to drive because my previous labors were short. The second midwife I phoned was great. I felt she understood my needs and suggested I come in and talk. She was with a great group of doctors and did hospital and home births. Her office and the hospital she worked out of, were 16 miles from home. She took me in as her patient and what a change! She did not label me high risk. The doctor I was seeing said that I had high blood pressure. They were using the wrong blood pressure cuff. My blood pressure was always below or average when the midwife took it. We ended up delivering at the hospital that was 16 miles from my home using The Bradley Method®.