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Writer's pictureHannah Burba, CPM

MY PATH TO MIDWIFERY-

Updated: Nov 18, 2023

A little bit more about me!



I was born right here in Baltimore at GBMC Hospital- and was raised, mostly, here in the Baltimore area. I was a bookworm kid and remember talking to trees growing up- I played the tenor saxophone and ran cross country at Towson High School before enrolling in Journalism School at the University of Maryland, College Park. I used that journalism degree to live in Annapolis, Washington D.C., Georgia, Italy, Israel and Togo, West Africa. (#RPCV)

It was during a hazy, slow afternoon in my village in Togo that I was first exposed to birth. My neighbor had a baby! This village had no running water, no electricity, no hospital, and nobody that spoke English. Nevertheless, there was something about this process that drew me in, so much that I was able to learn by witnessing and listening and being present, and I used that passion to fuel some amazing projects with my counterparts in my village.

When I returned to the United States, I immediately enrolled in Midwifery School- the first one was created to train midwives to work in remote regions abroad, which is what I thought I would do, but it abruptly closed down after my first semester, and I found work at farmers markets while I applied to and enrolled in Birthwise Midwifery School in Maine.

I trained as a doula and began encapsulating placentas while apprenticing with two different home birth practices that served families from the Annapolis area all the way up to Pennsylvania. Birth work became my life, and I still held the intention of returning to work in underdeveloped communities abroad.

They say whatever happens during a student’s apprenticeship is what they need to see and learn in order to walk their own unique path as a midwife. I am forever grateful to my many, many teachers, mentors and the hundreds of families who welcomed me into their homes, their lives and these life-changing experiences.



At the very end of my midwifery apprenticeships/student births, I spent a month at Shiphrah Birthing Center in Manila, Philippines. I met some amazing people and learned a lot about serving a community by being a part of a community, and realized I could probably make more of a meaningful change in the world by rooting into one place and building relationships over time with families, learning and serving beyond just a clinical midwifery perspective.

The first baby I caught now lives in Togo - which is where this all began for me. Birth work is certainly magical and weaves together families and souls across time and space-

I returned again to the states and graduated, got married, became licensed, got pregnant, and got my first job working at a busy midwifery practice in Baltimore. I learned a lot about who I was as a human, a mother and a midwife. #2020

When the pandemic hit and things got busier at work, I was having panic attacks every night before bed, worried I would be called to a birth and I would be separated from my baby for an unknown amount of time- I needed to take a step back. I left that practice and devoted myself to being a stay-at-home-mother, began delving more deeply into herbal learning and creating, and was asked to attend a few births for close friends- and so Raven Midwifery was created.

I have been humbled by what creating and running this practice has taught me, has pushed me to learn and experience and figure out.

This work is what I am meant to be doing on Earth at this time, and it’s the connections I make with families that keeps me going during the tougher, sleep-deprived times. I am constantly seeking to grow and build community- as a mother, a midwife, herbalist and human.

Thank you for being here.



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