Anne Pico, "Midwyf"
Anne Pico is passionate about midwifery. She has been assisting women and their families through pregnancy, birth and the postpartum period since 1991. She has worked with birthing families in Nevada, Montana, Texas and Utah both through home birth, and in a busy freestanding birth center. She is also the Utah state representative for Christian Midwives International.
She loves her job.
Utah Childbirth recently caught up with Anne to find out more about her and her Cache Valley midwifery practice.
Utah Childbirth: You have worked with birthing families in many different states. Was there anything distinctively different about birthing perceptions in other states that has deepened your understanding of birth?
Anne: In the west in general I have noticed a kind of natural rugged individualism and determination. In every state there are all kinds of people. I am blessed to have gotten to know so many caring, intelligent and strong women and families through the years. Fear is the enemy. We find and fight it everywhere.
Utah Childbirth: You are very involved in midwifery advocacy on the state, national and international level. Does this ever interfere with your job as a midwife, or does it help you? If so, how?
Anne: No. Anything I can do to educate others about natural and out of hospital birth is time well spent. It helps me, and my children, and all of us in the long run.
Utah Childbirth: Having worked in a free standing birth center, are there any major differences between that and a home birth?
Beautiful Waterbirth
Anne: A birth center is generally a more socially acceptable choice. It is more convenient for the midwife. There is an illusion of a birth center being safer. I have never understood this though, because there is basically no difference between home birth and birth center birth (same person(s), same skills, same equipment) except the location.
It is more likely that home birth is actually safer, because the mother is in her own environment and therefore less likely to feel stressed. Stress hormones are well known to interfere with labor.
No matter how homelike a birth center is, it is still not “home.” The exception to this, is those who live a great distance to a hospital and have the option of birth center close to one. I feel this is an area that we need to work on educating people about.
Utah Childbirth: You mentioned that you enjoy raising livestock? What do you raise? Are there any experiences you have had in caring for animals that have helped you learn more about life in general?
Anne: We used to run a small working cattle ranch. We have raised almost every kind of farm animal at one time or another. Our children have worked to earn the money for their own horses. We now have 5 horses, 1 Jersey cow and calf, 1 beef cow, 6 momma sheep, 8 lambs, 2 dogs, 4 cats, assorted fish and a gecko. Raising animals has given me many insights into life in general.
Although I have never assisted a human mother with twins, triplets, or a breech baby, I have assisted many animal mothers in these situations over the years. Working with livestock has taught me a lot of patience, and gentleness.
Any farmer knows that a laboring cow or horse must not be disturbed. Every vet knows that it is unwise to move a laboring animal or subject it to unfamiliar sights or sounds. They come to their “patient.” They know the value of good nutrition and carefully chosen supplements for pregnant animals, yet many of these same concepts seem lost in conventional medicine…
Utah Childbirth: How do you find time to do all that you do?
Anne: I have a wonderful family! They understand that this is my ministry and have made many sacrifices for it and for me through the years. I have learned that there are many seasons in life. When our children were small I was much more limited in my midwifery.
In some societies, women were not considered eligible for midwifery until they had raised their own family. I believe it is true that: “God doesn’t call the qualified, He calls the willing, and then He qualifies them.”
Utah Childbirth: You mentioned you are working on becoming a Certified Family Herbalist. Do you use herbs in your midwifery practice?
Anne: Yes, herbs are a wonderful first line of defense. It is important to choose them and use them carefully though, since some of them have risks.
Utah Childbirth: Is there any one experience you have had in your years working with women that you could share with readers that would inspire them to consider homebirth?
Anne: I would encourage women to do their own research. Learn about all the options. All credible scientific research for the past 30 years bears out the safety of midwifery and home birth. We all have to choose the risks we are willing to accept.
Hospital birth is definitely not risk free – just different risks. As a new mother, people would often say to me: “you’re so brave to have a home birth.” I would reply: “you’re braver to have a hospital birth.”
We need to be where we are the most comfortable during birth, unless there is a very compelling reason to be somewhere else. I wish I could capture and share with the world the joy and strength I have witnessed in many home births. Birth can be a very empowering and healing experience that affects us for the rest of our lives.
Visit Olive Branch Midwifery online or contact Anne via email anne@olivebranchmidwifery.com or call 435-770-6868.
Anne Pico, LDEM, CPM, CCE, CD, lives in Cache Valley, Utah with her husband and their six children. Anne is a nationally Certified Professional Midwife, a Licensed Direct Entry Midwife in both Utah and Idaho, a Certified Childbirth Educator, Doula, and Monitrice. She holds a degree in midwifery through the National College of Midwifery, a MEAC accreditited college in New Mexico.
She has worked with birthing families in Nevada, Montana, Texas and Utah both through home birth, and in a busy freestanding birth center. She encourages families to birth in their own way, supports water births, children at birth, and dads “catching” etc. Her desire is to serve, educate, and empower others “as unto the Lord Jesus Christ” Colossians 3:23-24.