Midwife Christy D'Aquila, CNM

Hi Y'all!

two young boys and their dog
I am originally from the deep south, from Mississippi, where humidity, pine straw, y’all, and sweet tea are a part of life. I joyfully embrace those aspects of home. Authoritative parenting, corporal punishment, and deep-rooted, active racism are also a part of my southern story. Those aspects are woefully embodied within my collective southern heritage. Journeying through puberty and then becoming a parent were transition times when I reckoned with values to keep and reject as person and a parent. Transitions in life are like this, rites of passages as times of reckoning with values and core beliefs. One must necessarily leave behind old rules to grow into new roles and create a better community.

​After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, my family moved to Connecticut. I currently live in Simsbury with my husband and three sons (one is between here and New Orleans – Go Wolfpack!). Besides my commitment to safeguarding freedom and body-mind-spirit integrity in birthing practices, I enjoy herb and flower gardening, crochet, process art, and walks with our dog, Max.

In my middle years, I keep on journeying. And I’m happy to share the next part of it with you! As a midwife, I hope to offer you a space to be heard, grow as a person and as parents, and learn more about yourself as you transition through life cycles.

​Personal growth and deeper knowing

​My interest in human development and individual psychology blends with my midwifery practice. I recognize birth and sexual and reproductive health as deeply personal experiences influenced by past and present life events. I celebrate joyful moments. And I am committed to courageously diving into the shadows of one’s life with compassionate curiosity, knowing that shining a light on these areas offers opportunities for reflection and healing. The safety of the midwife-client relationship is the perfect place for exploration. Life transitions (rites of passage) such as puberty, childbirth, parenting and elder-care, perimenopause, and menopause offer ripe opportunities for personal growth. In visits with you, I earnestly listen to your story and the meaning you give to your experiences. 
Home Birth Midwifery
My initial call to midwifery came from Robbie Davis-Floyd’s words in her book Birth as an American Rite of Passage. Now, I am thrilled to share my passion for the integrity of birth unfolding in its own time and space and the humane respect of body and soul. I walk beside you during the childbearing year, aiding a safe passage for you and your baby. Parenting is hard work, and you deserve the wholistic support from the start.

There is no one type of person who desires midwifery services and home birth. I look forward to working with you as part of the diverse group of people who make up the homebirth community in the Greater Hartford area, north, and northwestern CT, and throughout Connecticut!
​View Christy's Curriculum Vitae

First, Do No Harm

The childbearing year is a time of growth and transition. Old roles are cast aside as you grow into the new roles which await you. Transformation is hard, rewarding work.  I recognize the critical need to reclaim the spirituality of birth centered in the family and community.  And I rejoice with each baby born in the context of supportive midwifery care in the community or in an alternate setting when needed -- welcoming the re-learning of childbirth as a non-medical event.

​I also recognize no single, right way of coping, laboring, and birthing. A single vision of good laboring and childbirth is a falsehood that contributes to a self-blame culture and disappointment. I ‘do harm’ when birthers embody the idea that they did not achieve their dream birth because they did not follow a specific childbirth method or fail to do something just right. Good births sometimes include an epidural or birth by cesarean, when this becomes the next best option in labor.
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Birthing is a rite of passage.
And as such, it requires your whole presence, and self-love, including persevering through some things you prefer not to do.  ​

I am eager to grow with you.
​Schedule your prenatal or well-person visit

Education and Training

My varied experience with midwifery, home, and hospital birth serve you well as you prepare for your home birth and well-care with a midwife.

As a nurse-midwife, my skills expanded to include, but not limited to 
  • catching babies at home and hospital
  • prenatal and postpartum care
  • assisting pregnant people to remain healthy and candidates for home births
  • managing complications of labor and birth
  • newborn assessments and care to 28 days
  • thorough physical assessments and yearly well-person exams
  • gyn, sexual, and reproductive health care
  • consulting evidence to guide treatment and care
  • pharmacology
  • non-intervention in childbirth and medical support as needed

As a direct-entry midwifery student, my skills expanded to include, but not limited to
  • use of herbs in the childbearing year
  • unhurried prenatal and postpartum appointments following the client's lead
  • assisting pregnant people to remain healthy and candidates for home births
  • newborn assessments and care to 6 weeks
  • support of families during loss
  • trauma aware care to those with abuse and trauma histories
  • support of physiologic and non-intervention in childbirth
  • respect for the pregnant person as the expert and primary caregiver for their baby
  • consulting evidence and intuition to guide treatment and care

As a registered nurse, I became an expert at 
  • gently entering the intimate space of people I newly met
  • critically thinking and acting in times of emergency
  • advocating for evidence-informed care
  • proficiency with nursing skills 
  • team management of labor and birth complications
  • labor support to encourage optimal fetal positioning and safe space
  • Fetal heart rate monitoring: intermittent and continuous, and response to patterns

I am committed to further improving care for homebirth families by promoting the extension of our cultural awareness practices to those who choose home birth and midwifery care. Homebirth safety is improved by healthcare providers (nurses, physicians, midwives) respecting homebirth as part of social culture. We are ethically bound to extend our cultural awareness practices to homebirthing families and the midwives who support them when we encounter them in our offices, clinics, and in the hospital.  The U.S. healthcare systems may be stregthened by: open collaboration, consultation, and referral with the medical community including ob/gyn care, and easy access to emergency services when needed; ensuring access to the Midwives Model of Care as a standard for best practice at home, hospital, and birth centers; and easy access for those with low-risk pregnancies (most birthing people) to homebirth and midwifery-owned freestanding birth centers.