Meet the Midwife
Leigha Fairchild, CPM
I am a midwife and mama in the Kansas City metro area. I am a Christian and believe that God is the one who created the wonder of pregnancy and birth as the way to bring new life into the world. Every child is a gift and blessing from God! I have been a midwife since 2018, but I went to my first birth in 2014 and have been privileged to be a part of so many special moments since then.
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I have been fascinated with birth and pregnancy since I was a girl! While growing up in the Kansas countryside, I would act as labor-support for our family cat as she had litter after litter of kittens. At one time, I even helped the runt of a litter of seven to "breastfeed" by sitting out with him every day and ensuring the other kittens didn't push him out of the way. ​
As I grew older, my interests shifted from animals to women. My sister married in 2012 and soon became pregnant with their first baby. She immediately began to plan her home birth and my eyes were opened to this wonderful way of having babies in the comfort of home. I wasn’t there when she gave birth to her 10lb 12oz baby boy, but I was reassured that giving birth at home really could be safe.
After graduating from high school, I pursued a degree in intercultural studies so that I could eventually go overseas as a missionary. During my second year, with a friend in the area about to have a homebirth, I began to consider how midwifery could play out on the mission field. Up to this point, I had been intrigued by the idea of medical missions, but I didn’t think I would be able to go through medical school, and I was more interested in ministering to women than to sick people. Yet the idea of being a midwife was so intriguing. I could help families bring new life into the world? Still uncertain, I began to look for options to become a missionary midwife.
A friend of mine heard about my interest and told me about Newlife International School of Midwifery. This training program was located at a charity birth center in the Philippines.​ I jumped in with both feet and moved more than 8,000 miles from home in 2015, really hoping this midwife thing would work out. I spent the next 2 and half years learning and growing with 12 other women who were my classmates, and became like dear sisters. The births I attended with high-risk, undernourished women created an education and experience that I wouldn’t trade for anything.
I attended more than 150 births in various roles during my time there. I became very competent in supporting normal, physiologic births, and learned how to anticipate and manage difficult or complicated births when it was needed.​With great joy, yet heavy hearts, my class graduated in September 2017. We said our goodbyes, and returned to our homes around the world. I moved in with my sister’s family in Kansas City so that I could work with homebirth midwives for an additional 10 births before I sat the board exam of the North American Registry of Midwives (NARM) to become a Certified Professional Midwife. I passed the exam on March 1st, 2018 and attended my first two births as an independent midwife soon thereafter. Along with passing the NARM exam, I graduated from the National College of Midwifery with an Associates of Science in Midwifery. I maintain certification in adult/pediatric CPR and newborn resuscitation.​
In the spring of 2018, I began working as a midwife at Immanuel Birth Co. in Topeka, KS and grew in skill and confidence as a certified midwife. I also opened my own homebirth practice to provide care for women further north of the Topeka area. In 2020, I met my husband and made my move to Kansas City in the fall. In February 2021, we married and then welcomed our first baby in the comfort of home in December 2021. Our family has grown and changed since then, but midwifery has joyfully remained a part of my story. My desire is to continue to serve women in Kansas and Missouri by providing this option of having a trained midwife at your birth. It is both a joy and privilege to walk beside women and their families in this wonderful season of life!
Education, Certification, & Training
2015-2017
Certificate of Midwifery
Newlife International School of Midwifery
2015-2018
Associate of Science in Midwifery
National College of Midwifery
March 2018
Certified Professional Midwife (CPM)
North American Registry of Midwives (NARM)
2018
Certification in master training for 'Helping Babies Breathe' and 'Helping Mothers Survive'
2022
Vaginal breech birth training through Breech Without Borders
2023
Online continuing education "Suturing Workshop"
I maintain certification in Newborn Resuscitation (NRP) and CPR