GOLD Learning Speakers

Renata Hillman, Tomasina Oliver,

Sherri Daigle & Sarita Bennett

• Speaker Type: 2020
• Country: U.S.A.

Biography:

Renata lives in Mississippi. She is Mother to 3 children; the last, her daughter, was born at home. She has 5 precious Grandchildren; she was honored to catch 4 at home.
She has known from the beginning that 51% of her “Calling” was to attend Mothers as a Midwife. And 49%, was to share all that God and the families she served imparted into her life. She entered midwifery the traditional way in the 80’s; self taught and serving. With a great desire to become the best Midwife she could be for the Families she was called to serve. That has included serving as a childbirth educator and assistant since 1981. She received her CPM in 2008. She believes it truly takes the (heart, hands, and head) to be a true Midwife. The head; knowledge of a midwife can be acquired through many routesn(self-study, mentoring by an experienced midwife, or through a formal school). The hands: (acquired in an apprenticeship or through a formal schooling environment). But only the woman can decide if her heart is truly “the Heart of a Midwife”. She has been a homebirth Midwife for over 30 years now. She is a midwife, a preceptor, and a mentor for the next generation of mothers and midwives. She applies the use of traditional and naturalistic methods within her practice. She has taught workshops and classes across the country for over 25 years, including breech delivery and turning, skills for midwives in traditional methods of care, and how to start your own practice of midwifery.
All of this to guarantee that her granddaughters and great granddaughters will have a l oving, skilled, and knowledgeable Midwife available; if they choose to seek one out for their births.

Tomasina Oliver: Began exploring her interests in Natural Healing Arts and Complementary Medicine as a Midwife after the home birth of her first child in 1993. In the state of Florida, she completed her Diploma of Midwifery and graduated in 1997 from the School of Complementary Medicine in Central FL. Tomasina has many credentials in ethno-medicinal sciences, herbology, botanical chemistry, health & mental wellness counseling, education and spiritual facilitation work. Tomasina apprenticed with meta-physical healers, physicians and several other multi-disciplinary specialists to complete an internship as a Complementary Medicine Practitioner, and later became a Holistic Health Practitioner and Master Herbalist. She remains committed to building within communities of African descent to enhance social justice for all concerned. Her skill set is unparalleled in diverse treatment options for the well being of Families, Mothers and Babies as she has delivered double and well over 1000 babies since 2012. ANS(Autonomic Nerve System) Therapy, Iridology, Kinesiology, MT (Muscle Testing) and NLP(Neuro Linguistic Programming) are just a few other healing arts Midwife Tomasina has acquired expert proficiency in serving Clients for over 20 years. Having briefly served on the NARM (North American Registry Midwives) board, she is familiar with the nuances and intricacies of corporate Midwifery work and is excited to serve as Vice President for MANA (Midwives Alliance of North America).

Sarita has listened to women’s stories all her life – stories about love and birth and healing and death. She grew up in a rural mountain culture that valued self-reliance and in which home birth was the norm. The birth of her first child brought an awareness of a calling to midwifery which she pursued through self-study and attending women in their homes. The births of her own four children taught her to listen to the power of her body and what it means to give birth in ecstasy. In the early 1980’s, she joined with other young midwives in her state to support one another and find sisterhood as they developed standards of care, risk factor guidelines and a well-honed peer review process. In 1994, Sarita found herself answering another calling and began her Osteopathic education at the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine. After graduating with honors, she completed a family medicine residency with a strong maternity care program and “old-time” family practice approach to birth. In 2001, she returned to her rural home town, providing home birth and general family practice until 2013, when she relocated to begin a new adventure. Along with her passion for midwifery, she discovered her gift for mentoring and is actively involved in educating future midwives through The Academy of Experiential Midwifery Education. Sarita served as secretary for the MANA Board of Directors from October 2011 until being elected as vice president in 2014. From this perspective, she sees the interconnectedness of midwives and the need to work cooperatively if we are going to ensure that women and their families – not big business – are the ones who profit from our birth experiences.

Sherri Daigle has been a midwife for 35 years. Helping legalize midwifery in her home state of Louisiana, she was active in helping to pass legislation, and create midwifery practice and birth center regulation. She has taught midwifery at college level, as well as working as preceptor. She has worked tirelessly in home birth and birth center settings. She helped to create Louisiana’s first accredited birth center. Sherri has six wonderful children, and 4 grandchildren she enjoys spending time with. Currently she is working in a quiet home birth practice. She has watched midwifery grow from a homespun art to a respected profession, and is still amazed at the creative power of women through the lifespan.