Maeve Sundstrom
she/her
I absolutely love being a Facilitator with Birthing from Within.
Mentoring parents is wonderful, but I especially enjoy the deep dives that are possible when working with other birth professionals. Sharing ideas, knowledge and community with people like you is a joy and a privilege. We can do so much when we work, learn and grow together.
I first came to Birthing from Within as a pregnant parent in 2007, and immediately felt I had landed in just the right place. I was seeking birth preparation that treated me as a whole person and acknowledged I was passing through a transformation in all aspects of my life, not just preparing for a single event. It was so exciting to find a community and a philosophy in BfW that met me so fully in all the aspects of my process of becoming a parent.
I became a Mentor in 2010, and I have been an active member of the BfW community ever since. My particular areas of interest within BfW these days are: storytelling, mythology, archetypes and symbols; self and community care for birth professionals; BfW and midwifery; and trauma informed care.
I am also a Licensed Midwife with a home birth practice in the San Francisco Bay Area. I have been attending births in a variety of settings since 2009. I am a co-developer (with Rosanna Davis, Stephanie Freeman and Pam England) and facilitator of Village Care ™ , a unique group midwifery care model that blends clinical care with BfW concepts, processes and community building. I’m also a clinical preceptor with the National Midwifery Institute, and I find the work of mentoring and training the next generation of midwives to be one of my favorite parts of being a midwife.
I have been a bodyworker since 2000, specializing in Craniosacral therapy and bodywork for pregnant folks and babies. I was formerly an instructor at The McKinnon Institute of Massage in their professional training programs. I also taught mindfulness, guided meditation, and stress management classes in English and Spanish. (Yo soy una de las mentoras bilingües de BfW, y estoy disponible para ayudar a participantes habla hispanas en nuestros programas.)
My newest work is guiding and mentoring women as a Women's Health and Sexuality Coach, with a focus on embodiment, pleasure and self-expression.
Beyond work, my loves are language (reading, writing, poetry, learning foreign languages), doing Pilates, spending time at the ocean and in the forest, sharing community with friends and family, and laughing with my teen daughter.
I love hearing the questions that develop as folks move through this course, and being part of the team that excavates them. I look forward to sharing this process with you!
