We’re growing at AABC and have added several new midwives this spring and summer to accommodate our amazing families. Lynn Ann Griffin is one of the new hires we were lucky enough to find, and we sat down with her last week to get her story.
Here’s what she told us about how she decided to become a midwife:
In nursing school, I witnessed my first birth. I was so in awe of the experience that I had to take a couple of hours and spend time alone, processing the miracle I had witnessed. The first thing I did after that was to call my mom and thank her.
I knew then that I wanted to be a part of the birth experience. I trained as a doula before I became a high-risk labor and delivery RN in Seattle at the University of Washington. I knew I eventually wanted to be trained as a midwife and when I was ready to go back to school, I chose Frontier University, in my home state of Kentucky. Frontier was the first midwifery school in America, which felt significant to me.
My clinical experience took place in Spokane, WA in a low-income setting and Mount Vernon, WA in a rural setting. My mentors were great advocates and promoters of the natural labor process.
Professionally, I am passionate about trusting the client as the expert. She knows her own body and my role is to work as a partner in her care. My job is to empower her with knowledge and assistance; we collaborate, but she is in charge of her own process. Our bodies were made for this purpose; sometimes they just need a bit of encouragement and technical help.
The feedback I get from my clients usually mentions that I “really listened” to them during this very emotionally charged event.
In my free time I like being outdoors – hiking, standup paddle boarding and spending time in the water. I am passionate about literature and music. When I have the time, I enjoy creative writing. I am learning to play the guitar but floundering. I moved to Austin to work at the Austin Area Birth Center and I’m loving the city and the practice. AABC really nurtures both their family clients and their staff.
