Holistic Midwifery Care for Every Body
Care that Honors the Whole You
Serving Ventura, Santa Barbara, the Ojai valley, and the surrounding areas, Soulflower Midwifery offers a range of services rooted in compassion, respect, real world expertise and whole- family support.
Whether you are planning a home birth, seeking support for your hospital birth, or needing expert help feeding your baby, you'll find a midwife who truly listens. Our care is holistic, with nutritional counseling, herbal medicine, and education woven into our visits. I emphasize relationship building, bodily autonomy, informed consent, and tending to one’s emotional wellbeing.
Skillful and attuned home birth midwifery care for low risk pregnancies. Care starts as soon as you’re ready.
Home Birth Midwifery
Hospital Hybrid Care
You deserve the depth of care a midwife provides, wherever you choose to birth.
Lactation Support
Comprehensive and Compassionate Lactation Services in your home.
Hi, I’m Sophia
Midwife, mama, lactation consultant, surfer, and artist.
I'm passionate about guiding and holding families during the most tender and potent season of their lives.
Since 2012, I’ve been fortunate to support hundreds of births across a range of settings from kitchen floors to cozy bedrooms, hospital bathrooms, birth center hallways, gardens, and even the front seat of a car!
Serving people throughout the Bay Area, Southern California and Mexico, I’ve come to know birth as a sacred transformation, more than a medical event, and deserving of a co-created care experience that is skilled, attuned, and deeply compassionate.
Safety, respect, intimacy, and true informed consent are cornerstones of my practice and I bring these both to the home birth space and as a complement to hospital based care. Step into this transition feeling seen, prepared, and able to come as you are.
I welcome families of all shapes, sizes and identities. I embrace older children and family members at births. I support and celebrate neurodivergent families, queer families, and single parents.
I'm available at all hours because I love what I do and am honored to be doing this work. When I’m off call, I can be found tending to my garden, making the perfect herbal blend for a loved one, finding a secluded spot to surf, dancing to some soul music, or almost always snuggling with my toddler.
I currently offer consultation, midwifery and lactation support to families in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. I am available for travel.
If you are looking for warm, comprehensive care that lifts you up, please reach out.
I’d love to hear from you!
“She wasn’t just a member of our birthing team, she was a beacon of light and knowledge and danced the dance of labor with me in a way that I could have only hoped for.”
— MINI, OAKLAND CA
Midwifery care is covered by most PPO plans.
The cost of genetic screening, ultrasounds, and lab work are covered by private insurance or MediCal.
In-network exceptions, out-of-network coverage, co-pay, and deductible vary by plan. You can process a PPO Verification of Benefits with our biller for a detailed report of what your plan is likely to reimburse. Credit card, HSA, and FSA payments accepted.
Frequently Asked Questions
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You’re a good candidate for home birth if you’re eager to take initiative and agency in your birth experience, and value a model of care that goes deeper than what the medical model can provide. 80% of birthing people qualify as low risk, and regular prenatal care with midwives will not only help determine your eligibility for home birth, but has been shown to help keep you as low risk as possible. Basically, if baby is head down, vitals, growth, and lab work have been within normal range, and baby is born between 37 and 42 weeks, you’re all set for a safe homebirth!
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Truly, everyone! Until just a few generations ago, most people across the globe were birthing at home. My clients have included families who are local to Ventura and Santa Barbara, as well as families from all over the world- from Germany and Japan to Brazil and Mexico.
They are first timers and parents on their sixth baby, therapists, hairdressers, surgeons, chefs, dancers, tech executives, teachers, artists, carpenters, migrant workers, cafe owners, scientists, and even hospital midwives and OBs. There are no age or space limits to home birth. All that it requires is that you and your baby are healthy and that you feel secure in your space.
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Midwives are medical professionals trained to serve as the primary care provider throughout the perinatal period. In a low-risk pregnancy and birth, we are responsible for overseeing all clinical care for the birthing person and their newborn. Doulas are valuable members of the birthing team who provide emotional, physical, and practical support. They do not perform any clinical tasks, although many have a deep understanding of the medical aspects of birth as well.
I love working with doulas and believe they provide invaluable support! The right doula is a wonderful complement to midwifery care. Hiring a doula is not a requirement, but I believe most families benefit from having one. I especially encourage first timers to work with a doula, and I have a handful of doulas I love and trust and would be happy to connect you with
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I am a licensed midwife (LM) with the California medical Board and a Certified Professional midwife (CPM), a national credential. I am a candidate awaiting certification with the International Board of Lactation Consultants (IBCLC). My Neonatal Resuscitation certification and adult CPR are current. I speak and attend births in Spanish, speak advanced Italian and beginning Brazilian Portuguese. I'm an active preceptor for student midwives and love teaching. I also hold a 200hr yoga teacher training certification.
I have a BA in Intensive psychology and Italian Studies from UC Santa Cruz (2009), and I attended a MEAC accredited Midwifery school called Maternidad La Luz in El Paso, Texas (2016)
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First of all, proper tending to the parent/baby dyad in pregnancy and careful monitoring during labor makes interventions rather uncommon- especially since we are dealing with low-risk clients at home.. However, if an intervention starts to seem necessary, we will have a clear conversation about options, risks and benefits, and timeline. True emergencies are even less common, but I am trained to handle them in an out of hospital setting. I carry appropriate medications, oxygen, tools for suturing and am trained and certified in Neonatal Resuscitation and maintain current CPR. I always have a second licensed midwife at the birth so there is a provider available to care for parent and baby if both need attention. We are almost always able to stabilize the person at home, making hospital transfer unnecessary, however, we make a transfer plan prenatally just in case hospital support is warranted. I understand that this topic can be sensitive and bring up a lot of fears and anxieties, so I dedicate time to discuss interventions and emergencies thoroughly in our prenatal care so everyone can approach the birth feeling grounded and confident.
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Yes! We are out-of-network providers, and PPO plans often provide a sizeable reimbursement for our global fee covering your complete course of prenatal, birth, and postpartum care. Clients with Aetna, Cigna, United Health Care, Blue Shield, Blue Cross, Anthem, and Samaritan PPO plans have all received reimbursement. Some HMO plans may allow an in-network exception; Kaiser and Medi-Cal do not cover midwifery services, though we offer income-based sliding scale fees for those plans. Our professional biller offers a Verification of Benefits process to give you a clearer picture of what your plan is likely to cover. Please note that billing is submitted at the close of care (6 weeks postpartum), and full payment is due by 37 weeks. We accept credit card, HSA, and FSA payments.