Tracy Lough
Licensed Midwife, Certified Professional Midwife, Craniosacral Therapist
Offering Home Birth Midwifery & Craniosacral Therapy in The West County

Illustration by Andrea Keating
I trust in the ability of women to choose how, where, and with whom to give birth and believe women possess instinctual, ancient knowledge about how to birth their own baby. I practice midwifery in an evidence-based way while keeping up on new research so that I can continue to give families thorough and accurate information to make informed choices.
My journey to becoming a midwife began in the year 2000 while living in Berkeley, CA. I was studying at a local coffee shop one evening and as I got up to leave, someone had left a book called Midwives on the chair next to me. I remember looking at this book and having a strong feeling it was important for me to read it. I got married a few months later and my husband, Jeff and I, took off for Yellowstone to work in the park before settling into a teaching career. It was there that I read the book and began devouring anything and everything on the subject of home birth. I had my first daughter at home the following year with midwives by my side. The moment I reached down and lifted her into my arms, I felt such an inspiration to work with women and families around birth. As I began on my path to help empower women through this rite of passage I knew in my heart this was my calling.
Bio
My midwifery journey began by becoming certified as a Bradley Method childbirth instructor and hypnobirth facilitator with a program called Hipbirth. I became a certified doula through ALACE and a placenta encapsulation specialist through Pbi. I birthed all three of my children at home with loving midwives. After becoming licensed in 2011, my son was born after an hour and a half labor into my 9 year old daughter’s hands. Having siblings at births and involving them in the process is a passion of mine!
Today, I have been a part of over 300 births. Seeing babies emerge full of life as they gaze into their mother’s eyes is my inspiration. I am proud to be a guardian and keeper of normal, healthy pregnancies and birth and am committed and skilled in providing an emotionally and physically safe space for women who choose to birth at home. I value building relationships of mutual trust with families through time spent together talking and sharing information during relaxed prenatal visits.
I have been blessed to have many incredible mentors along the way who have guided me to where I am today. My formal training through National Midwifery Institute included an apprenticeship with 2 home birth midwives in LA. In 2010, I traveled to Bali, Indonesia for 2 months to work as a student midwife in a high volume birth clinic. Here I worked under the direct supervision of Robin Lim who was honored as the 2011 CNN Hero for her profound work as a midwife. I am certified as a California Licensed Midwife (LM) and nationally Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) and am certified in IV therapy and Neonatal Resuscitation. I love to include homeopathy, herbalism, and craniosacral therapy into my practice. Today, I am diving deeper into the work of Craniosacral Therapy through the Upledger Institute and writing a book which I hope will empower women to bring their baby into the world in a gentle and loving way. Writing about the families that birthed their babies on my Humboldt County homestead in The Birth Yurt gives me such joy as I reflect on each baby and family that touched my soul.


My family recently moved to the redwoods of Occidental, CA and it is an honor for me to continue supporting women and families in my community.