Mother Roots Midwifery
Holistic, Integrative, & Evidence Based Classes, CEUs, & Trainings
Rooted in the Wisdom, Tradition, & Practices of BIPOC & Community Midwifery Practice
Creating Inclusive, Accessible, &
Wellness services are designed to support reproductive, prenatal, postpartum, and whole-body wellness through holistic, culturally rooted, and integrative care practices. We provide individualized support that nurtures physical health, emotional balance, stress reduction, and overall well-being across the fertility, pregnancy, birth, and postpartum journey.
Services may include fertility wellness support, therapeutic massage, acupressure, craniosacral therapy, herbal wellness consultations, yoni steaming, relaxation techniques, and body-centered care practices that promote restoration, circulation, alignment, and healing. Our approach honors traditional healing knowledge while integrating evidence-informed wellness practices tailored to each client’s needs and goals.
Throughout labor and birth, we provide skilled midwifery care that supports physiological birth while prioritizing safety, autonomy, and informed choice. Our approach integrates clinical expertise with compassionate, relationship-centered care, creating space for families to feel respected, empowered, and supported during one of life's most transformative experiences.
Our practice embraces a holistic, family-centered approach that weaves together clinical knowledge, traditional wisdom, and community-based support. Our prenatal care includes regular visits focused on monitoring the health and well-being of both you and baby. Our clinic is able to provide clinical care, labs, and supports you with individualized guidance on nutrition, movement, comfort measures, holistic wellness, birth preparation, and emotional well-being throughout pregnancy. We offer education, resource connection, birth planning, and individualized support to help families make informed decisions with confidence.
Postpartum care extends beyond birth to support healing, recovery, lactation, newborn care, mental and emotional wellness, and the transition into parenthood. We recognize that birth is not only a physical event but a significant family and community experience, and we are committed to nurturing the health and well-being of both parent and baby during the postpartum period.
Midwives 〰️ Doulas 〰️ Birth Educators 〰️ BIPOC 〰️
Midwives 〰️ Doulas 〰️ Birth Educators 〰️ BIPOC 〰️
OUR PEOPLE
Holistic
Integrative
Grounded In Somatic Practice
Trauma Informed
Evidence Based
Culturally Rooted
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With over 23 years of combined experience supporting families through birth and mentoring doulas, midwives, and community health workers, Sara is dedicated to expanding culturally inclusive and accessible care. Her work is deeply rooted in culturally specific traditions of care, honoring the wisdom, practices, and healing approaches of diverse communities.
As a birth-worker and healer, she has supported families across home, birth center, and hospital settings. Her practice is grounded in a deep understanding of the physiology of pregnancy, labor, and birth, and integrates somatic bodywork, trauma-informed care, and culturally rooted approaches that center the whole person. Her training includes herbal and natural remedies, lactation support, newborn care, cesarean recovery, acupressure for pregnancy and labor, perinatal and infant massage, and craniosacral therapy for both birthing people and newborns.
Sara brings extensive clinical experience, having worked as a Birth Assistant within multidisciplinary care teams across various birth centers. As a doula, she has collaborated with OBs and CNMs in Portland, Oregon, where she was trained to provide continuous support during labor, cesarean births, and postpartum recovery. She has also served as a Postpartum Midwife, supporting families in the immediate 48 hours after birth and throughout the first six weeks postpartum.
As a mentor and educator, Sara has trained and supported birth-workers through her work with the Oregon Health Authority Traditional Health Worker Commission, Birthingway College, SMC Doulas, National College of Midwifery, Oakland Better Birth Foundation, and numerous conferences and workshops. Her teaching centers culturally rooted knowledge, community-based care, and the integration of traditional wisdom with evidence-based practice.
Sara is also a mother of five children, with personal birth experiences spanning home birth, water birth, and life-saving cesarean. These experiences deeply inform her compassionate, adaptable approach to care. Known for her intuitive connection with newborns, she brings a calming presence and practical wisdom to support families in building confidence, connection, and joy in early parenthood.
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Israel is a midwife, mother of seven, and founder of Mother of Many Midwifery, serving families across Oregon with a deep commitment to community-based, culturally rooted care. As the lead midwife at Mother Roots Midwifery, she brings over 20 years of experience supporting families through pregnancy, birth, and postpartum, grounded in a lifelong calling to nurture, educate, and advocate for mothers and babies.
Her work is rooted in culturally specific traditions of care, honoring the wisdom, practices, and healing approaches of diverse communities. Israel is dedicated to restoring birth as a safe, supported, and empowering experience—centering the voices, identities, and lived experiences of the families she serves.
She has worked across home, birth center, and community settings as a doula, assistant midwife, and postpartum midwife, bringing a holistic and relationship-centered approach to her care. Her practice integrates a strong foundation in the physiology of pregnancy and birth with trauma-informed, somatic, and evidence-based care. She supports families with knowledge and skills in natural birth, postpartum recovery, lactation, newborn care, and holistic wellness practices that nurture both parent and baby.
Israel’s vision is grounded in reproductive justice and the belief that culturally rooted, holistic midwifery care can transform outcomes for families—particularly those from historically marginalized communities. She is passionate about protecting the parent-infant bond, honoring cultural traditions, and creating spaces where families feel safe, seen, and supported in their full humanity.
As a leader, mentor, and educator, Israel is committed to building a strong, community-based birth workforce. She supports birth-workers in developing both clinical skill and culturally grounded practice, ensuring that care remains accessible, inclusive, and reflective of the communities it serves.
Her own experiences as a mother have deeply shaped her path, reinforcing her belief in the power of birth as a transformative and sacred life event. Through her work, Israel continues to cultivate spaces of healing, connection, and empowerment for families and future generations.
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Certified Professional Midwife / Oregon Licensed Direct Entry Midwife
Certified SMC Full Circle Doula
Neo-Natal Resuscitation Program
CPR Certified
Certified Pre-Natal, Post-Partum, & Infant Massage & Cranio-Sacral
Testimonials
"Sara has not only grace and intuition in birth but also displays a reverence for the sacredness of each mother's journey. She is a skilled midwife and educator, and brings a level of experience with specifically the diverse communities that is desperately needed in the homebirth community."
-Racha Tahani Lawler, CPM, LM Midwife
“Sara was my midwife, teaching me how to eat right, take care of my body, mind and spirit in my process of learning to be a mother. She supported me in so many ways, from the daily struggles of deciding what foods to eat, ways to sleep more comfortably, even how to deal with some trying heartburn, to the more complicated emotional rollercoaster that is pregnancy. But, by far, the biggest impact she had was during my labor. Somehow, even though I felt in my being I could not have a natural childbirth she guided me with patience and persistence to my goal, and eventually helped my daughter come into this world. I can honestly say I'm not sure I would have made it without her.
-Athena L
“Sara’s birth and body work is done with such grace, knowledge, love and respect—for women, mothers, babies, families, and the process itself. She has a warmth, a connection, and an intuition—all of these touched me deeply, instilled healing, and made my birth experience all the more positive.”
—Lita M., Oakland, CA.
Frequently Asked Questions
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We are based in Portland, Oregon and serve the greater Portland metro area and surrounding communities. Your individualized care is received in our office as well in the comfort of your own home. If you’re outside our primary area, reach out. We’ll always do our best to find a way to support you.
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We provide full circle of integrative midwifery & doula care, including:
• Prenatal visits
• Home birth attendance
• Newborn care up to 6 weeks postpartum
• Postpartum home visits and recovery support
• Lactation and breastfeeding guidance
• Holistic and herbal wellness consultations
• Childbirth education, classes, and birth planning
• Prenatal and postpartum care for families planning hospital births
• Water birth support
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What if I do not want a home birth?
We offer individualized care that meets you where you are. Some families feel called to birth at home; others feel most comfortable birthing in a hospital. We honor and support both.
For families planning a hospital birth, we provide:
• Comprehensive prenatal care throughout your pregnancy
• Holistic wellness support, birth preparation, and personalized birth planning
• Facilitate Transfer of Care to Hospital Provider and maintain continuity
• Postpartum home visits and newborn care after your hospital discharge
• Lactation support and emotional care during the fourth trimester
You deserve continuity of care and a trusted provider in your corner, regardless of where your baby is born. We are honored to walk with you through every stage of the journey.
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For low-risk pregnancies, planned home birth attended by a licensed midwife is a well supported, evidence based option with excellent outcomes. Safety is the foundation of every decision we make in our practice.
What we bring to every birth:
• Thorough prenatal screening to carefully assess candidacy for home birth
• Emergency equipment including oxygen, IV supplies, hemorrhage medications, and neonatal resuscitation tools
• A clear, practiced hospital transfer protocol when additional care is needed
• Collaborative relationships with hospital based providers in the Portland area
Our goal is never to choose between safety and the birth you envision, it is to provide both.
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Absolutely! We love a great support team. Doulas, birth photographers, family, chosen family, and community members are all warmly welcomed.
We believe it takes a village to birth a baby, and we will coordinate openly with your full birth team so everyone is working together in harmony with you at the center.
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Yes! We are able to take Oregon Health Plan OHP / Medicaid clients, (please note spots fill up quick!). We believe that access to respectful, high-quality midwifery care should never be determined by income, and we are committed to making our services available to all families in our community.
If you are covered by OHP or are unsure about your benefits, please reach out. We will work with you to understand your coverage and navigate the process with as much clarity and ease as possible.
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Yes. We welcome self-pay and cash-pay clients and are happy to discuss our fee structure during your free initial consultation.
We understand that navigating the cost of midwifery care can feel overwhelming. We are committed to finding a path to care that is realistic and sustainable for your family. Please do not let financial uncertainty stop you from reaching out, the conversation is free, and we will always be honest and transparent about what is possible.
Payment options may include:
• Flexible payment plans to spread your investment across your pregnancy
• Sliding scale consideration on a case-by-case basis for families in need
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We encourage families to connect with us as early as possible, ideally around 8–12 weeks of pregnancy. Early enrollment allows us to build a trusting relationship, complete all necessary health screenings, and create a truly personalized plan for your care.
If you are further along in your pregnancy and feeling called to midwifery care, please still reach out. We will always do our genuine best to welcome and support you.
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We are a holistic community centered practice built to serve all families including a particular dedication to BIPOC families, low-income families, and those who have felt unseen or underserved by the conventional medical system.
Our care is rooted in healing traditions, cultural humility, and the firm belief that every person who births deserves to be treated with dignity and respect.
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Your journey with Mother Roots Midwifery begins with a free consultation, a relaxed, unhurried conversation with no obligations and no pressure. This is a sacred opportunity for us to get to know one another.
During your consultation, we will:
• Learn about your health history, your pregnancy, and your hopes for your birth
• Share our philosophy, our process, and what care with us truly looks like
• Answer every question you have, fully and honestly
• Discuss your payment options, including OHP and cash-pay arrangements
If we feel we are a strong mutual fit, we will move forward with a detailed health intake, a review of your records, and scheduling your first official prenatal visit. We believe the relationship between a family and their midwife is one of the most important relationships in the birth experience, and it begins here.
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We follow evidence based prenatal care guidelines with visits typically scheduled every four weeks in early pregnancy, every two weeks in the third trimester, and weekly as your due date approaches.
Our visits are unhurried and thorough. You can expect:
• Physical assessments: blood pressure, fundal height, fetal heart tones, and baby’s positioning
• Review of labs, symptoms, concerns, and questions
• Nutritional, herbal, and holistic wellness guidance
• Emotional check-ins and birth preparation conversations
• Personalized birth planning support
Your schedule is adapted to your unique clinical needs. You will never feel rushed or unheard in our care.
