Imagine you are a river flowing.  Water knows, without having to think, how to flow downward.  The waters toss this way and that – sometimes calmly and slowly, hardly moving; sometimes with fierce intensity and determination.  Occasionally there is an obstacle in the water, such as a rock, and the surf gets rougher, rapids form and the intensity builds stronger still, yet the water intrinsically knows how to find its way to flow around the rock.  And always, no matter how the water flows, she eventually makes her way to join the big, beautiful sea.

The river is the way of a woman in pregnancy and childbirth.

If everything is proceeding normally, the water needs very little from the world to complete its journey – most everything comes from its inner, ancient knowing.  The only thing the water truly needs is something – someone – to hold the space for her to discover her own unique feminine power.  A strong, experienced presence she can feel collecting her as she rolls.  A river bank who has had many rivers flow through her and be held by her still yet accepting arms.  With each spring runoff, the river bank is molded by the waters, yet grows stronger still.  The river bank knows how to keep the water flowing together, yet still trusts the water to flow in the way she needs to flow.

The river bank is the way of the birth doula or childbirth educator.

Welcome to Three Rivers Birth Services.  I’m Kristina French, and I’ve been a DONA certified birth doula practicing since 2007, an independent childbirth educator trained by both Lamaze and Birthing From Within since 2008, and a Certified Lactation Educator since the summer of 2012.  Whether you seek a guide during the prenatal months, a class on the new skill of breastfeeding, or as an educator to build your confidence for birth, or an experienced river bank during your birthing time, whether your birth will be attended by a doctor or a midwife at a hospital or at home, whether you plan on a natural birth or an epidural, or however you plan to feed your baby, I would love to be a part of your journey to parenthood.

See pages to the left for more information about me, my classes, my philosophy and my services. Welcome.

(birth pictures used with client’s permission.  Birth photography by Shilowe Ensminger at www.shilowe.com.)