Baby Raya is due April 2024!

I have been in the birth world since 2018. I have supported dozens of families in their childbirth journey in hospitals, birth centers and at their home, both as a doula and photographer. Having witnessed birth in every setting, I have seen how powerful and mother centered home birth with a Licensed Midwife is.

After consideration of our options, Juan and I have decided to hire a home birth Midwife and have our baby boy in the comfort of our home.

Midwifery care is often an out of pocket expense (insurance doesn’t cover it). Because of this, in lieu of gifts for our second child, we would appreciate support to our Birth Fund.

What is a Birth Fund? It’s a family and friend supported fund to pay for midwifery services and potentially postpartum care. Financial support is incredibly beneficial to my postpartum time given that I will be unable to work for a bit of time and given that I am a self-employed freelancer, I do not qualify for Paid Family Leave or Disability.

How much does a midwife cost? In Southern California the rate ranges from $6,000-10,000. Our midwife’s asking rate is $7,000 but is willing to work with us a bit to support our cause.

How to give to our fund:

  1. FreeFunder Campaign (embedded below)

  2. Venmo @karissa-raya or @jraya

  3. Zelle 714-785-5457

  4. Paypal (friends & family) hi@karissamraya.com

  5. An old fashioned check

  6. Cash

Your support is much appreciated and received with so much gratitude. I will periodically update the total amount raised by our community in celebration.

Birth Fund Total

updates to come

Meet our Midwife

Angela of Alumbra Midwifery

Midwifery Credentials

  • Licensed Midwife (LM) through the Medical Board of California.

  • Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) through the North American Registry of Midwives (NARM).

  • Associate Degree in Midwifery, Midwives College of Utah

  • Apprentice at Maternidad La Luz, a high volume birth center in El Paso, Texas.

I know you probably have a lot of questions… so here are some things I’d like to share about home birth.

— Birth in a hospital is actually way more modern than home birth. Before the 1930’s women typically gave birth at home surrounded by relatives, female friends, and midwives. 

— A "licensed midwife" is an individual who has been issued a license to practice midwifery by the Medical Board of California. The practice of midwifery authorizes the licensee to attend cases of normal pregnancy and childbirth, and to provide prenatal, birth, and postpartum care, including family-planning care, for the mother, and immediate care (first 6 weeks) for the newborn.

This means that all of my prenatal and immediate postpartum care will happen in the comfort of our home (no trips to and from the pediatricians office).

— Home birth is incredibly safe. Licensed midwives are trained medical professionals. They are prepared for urgent or emergency matters and when the situation exceeds the tools and resources a home can provide, midwives know when to transfer to a hospital. Apart from that, if I decide at any moment I would like to go to the hospital, that is also my prerogative. If transfer were to happen, we would go to Hoag Newport Beach which is 2.3 miles away.

— My philosophy on birth is that it is a normal physiological experience, and not (usually) a medical emergency. It is shown that hospital deliveries can lead to a cascade of unnecessary interventions. Often times all a mother needs is more time to labor, but the hospital operates on its own terms and policies that often ignore physiological birth. They aim to speed up and control a natural and very personal experience.

— Some advantages of home birth are I can have whomever I want supporting me with no hospital policies in the way. Also, Olive can be part of her sibling’s birth and be a positive and grounding energy for me.