About Melissa

Aloha families!

My name is Melissa Ekstrom, I am a traditional birthkeeper located in the east side of the Big Island of Hawaii. I hold a deep passion for helping babies thrive and this means I help new mothers and their families thrive. With a background in Midwifery, Pre and Perinatal Psychology, and Childbirth Education, I am now primarily focused on postpartum and newborn care. I offer the resources and services needed to help ensure an optimal experience throughout this special time. Educational classes, pregnancy tests, doula services, postpartum healing, referrals, and a lending library are available.

I live with my 3 youngest of 5 children, my first 2 are now adults, and I also have one grandchild. My babies were born at home, two were waterbirths, one being outdoors, and the last was a free birth with the father and siblings present. I enjoy living an organic non-gmo lifestyle, going to the beach, gardening, drumming, and making/ marketing seed bead jewelry which will be available in my shop here. 

Mission

Big Island Birthkeeper’s mission is to raise awareness about why traditional birth practices are still needed.

Vision

Big Island Birthkeeper’s vision is that women will reclaim the postpartum, allowing the time needed for healing and bonding with their baby.

Education

My training and education come from the Womancraft Midwifery Education Program, the Association of Labor Assistants and Childbirth Educators (ALACE), Doulas of North America (DONA), the Association of Pre and Perinatal Psychology and Health (APPPAH), the Traditional Nafsa Project School (TNPS), and Hui Mālama Ola Nā ‘Ōiwi Healthcare.

Reclaim Your Postpartum

There is a birth paradigm shift happening as science is now proving what eastern philosophy and indigenous cultures have known since antiquity. The knowing that we are spirit before we have a body and that we are sentient beings, thinking, feeling, conscious, prior to and at birth. Women remember explicitly the story of every birth experience while the baby’s birth experience is stored as implicit memory.

I support the holistic model of birth which insists on the oneness of body, mind, and spirit. It is woman centered care, focusing on her unique needs and desires. It is the recognition of her right to self-determination in terms of choice, control and continuity of care; and addresses her social, emotional, physical, psychological, spiritual and cultural needs and expectations in all birth settings. I also support the 12 Conscious Baby Principles. These principles recognize that babies are conscious and aware, and there is a blueprint as well as imprints. Birth is a sequence of events, that has rhythms and tempo. Any disruptions affect the inherent ability to process, cope, and overcome the experience. The implicit memories show up sub consciously in our patterns of life functioning.

Birth is an instinctual, primal process that deserves privacy and respect. Mother’s deserve to feel honored, safe and unobserved. Optimal birth experiences combined with continued support in the postpartum help families thrive.