As founder/owner of a full-service salon in Oshkosh and a mom of a two-and-a-half-year-old and six-month-old, we had to ask Jennie how the work life balance thing was coming along.
“It’s coming. Some days are better than others, but we’ve got a good village to help us,” she said.
Within that village Jennie includes the midwife who delivered both of her children, Jenny Taubel.
Here’s the story of how they came together, and why Jennie wouldn’t have it any other way:
Now this was a different place mind you, and I was originally assigned to a different midwife through the first half of my pregnancy. She ended up leaving, and we got put with Jenny, which ended up being the best thing that could have happened.
I wasn’t high risk, so I really didn’t see the first midwife that often and hadn’t developed a close relationship with her. It was at my 20-week appointment where I was told I’d have to switch. I was a bit hesitant since I had already started, but once I saw Jenny and was able to meet with her, I was super happy. I'm so glad it went the way it did, and I know in the long run it truly was a better fit.
I was able to do a water birth there with Jenny, which was my plan all along. I mean, there were a number of different things I wanted to do, but things don’t always go to plan, so I was open-minded in that respect. But with Jenny, I felt like everything I expressed interested in trying during pregnancy, labor and delivery she was open to. She just let me kind of have my journey but then also stepped in when necessary, giving me recommendations along the way.
I asked questions and she never made me feel like I wasn't important or what I wanted didn't matter. If she had an idea about something, it was like, ‘Okay, what about this?’ It wasn't, ‘This is what we have to do.’ I just loved that about her. She was so easy-going and soft-spoken, and our personalities just meshed well. I think not being pressured into doing certain things for me was a big thing, because there were important things I didn't want to teeter on, and I felt like she supported me in that way, and that's what I really needed.
Anyway, I ended up laboring for five or six hours, and we did the water birth. It was the best experience ever. Later we found that Jenny moved after they closed the department, but I was watching to see where she would end up, because we were planning on having another baby and I was going to follow her as long as it was close. Jenny joined Women’s Care in Appleton, so that was no big deal for us to travel from Oshkosh to see her.
Now fast forward to my second. There wasn’t going to be a water birth because no hospitals in the area do that. So it was going to be different no matter what. I knew how well it went the first time for me, and I wanted things to go well this time too. Jenny kept reassuring me, telling me things were going to be faster and easier. My first thought was, well, you don’t know that, but okay, I’ll go with it.
Well, things did go faster and were easier. I mean, it was definitely different, but it was great. So both different and both the same, right?
Looking back on my first, and not really being sure about anything, I still 100% knew I wanted to go with a midwife. Obviously, if you're high risk you are suggested to go to an OB. But I did a lot of research to see what was going to be the best fit for me. I actually had a client who was previously a midwife, and I got to talk to her about the experience. So I knew that’s the road I wanted to go down, and kind of a non-negotiable.
For me, it was going the more natural route, with less medication. And I liked the fact of being in a hospital so if interventions were needed, they were available. But I liked that I could do everything on my own, in my own time. Nothing was pressured or pushed on me. For me, the midwife was just the way to go.
I tell everybody if they've had a poor experience, anywhere, with anyone, just try a midwife. It’s such a different experience. Obviously it's not the right fit for everybody, but I just feel like it is for many people. It can be such a great way to go.
That’s my general recommendation, anyway. My specific one is Jenny Taubel. If being heard and listened to is important to you, Jenny’s perfect.
I'm so glad she was able to deliver both my babies.











