the meadow midwifery team

Hey!! I'm Erica 🐝 I've been a FL Licensed Midwife since May 2016. Which means I've had the privilege of serving the coolest families in Tampa Bay for the last decade 🌀⁠

 

I met my husband, Bradley, in 2004 while we were still living in New York state. We began dating in 2005 and moved to Florida in 2006. The following year I completed my massage therapy training and passed my boards! I loved chiropractic care and providing *actually* therapeutic massage to folks who were injured, dealing with chronic pain and/or were pregnant. I found not many therapists actually felt comfortable working on pregnant peeps, but I LOVED it! (No I hadn't realized yet 😆).
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In 2010 I was pregnant with my oldest daughter, Charli Samantha. I was ferociously researching natural birth and was determined to avoid an induction, epidural and cesarean. Listen, my mom had me naturally, so if she could do it, I was going to do it too! I transferred into care with a midwife around 26 weeks. As a geriatric midwife now I can absolutely see the yellow & red flags that existed with my midwife, but at the time I did not and frankly, she was the only option in my area. I went on to have a normal home birth, because I was healthy, low-risk and I was in the right head space to surrender to the power of birth. When my postpartum care left much to be desired and a friend had a terrible experience with the same midwife, my obsession with birth grew and I felt an overwhelming call to provide *every* client with exceptional care. And I'm proud to say, I've never faltered on that!!

 

I set out to start my journey towards midwifery before Charli turned one, beginning with doula work and taking college pre-reqs. I officially started the midwifery program at the Florida School of Traditional Midwifery in August 2012. I was fortunate enough to have a handful of preceptors, including CNMs at a busy birth center in Orlando, where I learned a ton, had plenty of hands-on experience and really rounded out my practice style & approach.
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In Sept 2015, with only 10 birth managements left, I gave birth to my second daughter, Everette Jaclyn. May 2016 I was sitting for my licensure exam and became FL's newly minted MW331!

 

For nearly 6 years, I was working for the extremely well-established Barefoot Birth (honestly longer, counting my time with BFB while I was in school).  Early 2022, I stepped out with a couple of partners to form Clover Leaf Midwifery. Which somehow managed to stay open for the next 3 years, though the original vision continued to devolve over that time, I was determined to keep the practice thriving... my remaining partner was not. When she walked away in May of 2025, with all of the money we had saved and abandoned the clients that had hired us, I adhered to my duties as a midwife and devotion to my clients, remaining at their side through such a wild transition. 
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These 14 years in midwifery have tested my skills, endurance and ability to stay grounded. They've had me questioning my calling or my desire to remain in a thankless profession. Midwives are often the first people to blame when an outcome is not favorable and on the flip side, the first people to be considered useless in the birth space. But that's the thing about a calling... You can't really control it. It clings to you through various cycles of burnout and intense ebbs & flows. It stays dormant sometimes, only to throw you wild scenarios one after the other, just to keep you on your toes. ⁠
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And I couldn't be more grateful to be a part of this wonderful work 🪻🌾👣