LAUREN IBAÑEZ / NEXTGENRADIO
What is the meaning of
home?
Lauren Winston speaks with Clarisa Evans, a home birth midwife and budding gardener who started her practice to empower all members of the family from pregnancy through postpartum. Carrying on the legacy of her great grandmother, Clarisa uses herbs and fosters trust with expecting families throughout the Kansas City metro area. Clarisa is a part of a community that provides the opportunity to imagine pregnancy and birth outside of the hospital and inside home.
Growing home
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[Evans: “So we definitely are head down here. I’m getting heart tones from his back.”]
[Fetal heartbeat]
[Evans: “There’s our little peanut.”]
My name is Clarissa Evans.
I’m a home birth midwife.
Being in other people’s homes, their space, it’s very sacred. I don’t take it for granted.
I think that’s a beautiful thing, being able to do appointments through my home.
[Evans: “Are you doing prenatal teas?” Mom: “Yes, absolutely.” Evans: “OK, cool. And really hitting it with that alfalfa.”]
They can just be their authentic self. I can be my authentic self, almost as if it’s like hanging out with a friend.
[Evans: “I can’t believe we’re, like, right around the corner.” Mom: “I know, me too. I’ll be eight months on Sunday.” Evans: “Awesome.” Mom: “I’m so excited.” Evans: “I love it.”]
So I got into birth work with my little guy. I had to get an emergency C-section. I did not feel heard in the hospital at all. I never wanted another mom to feel the way I felt.
Yeah, so I kind of serve a little bit of everyone. I am serving our clients in Warrensburg and those are our Mennonite families. I also serve a lot of our families in the inner city. I’ve kind of really in the past year or two been servicing a lot of our teen moms.
Midwifery is predominantly a white woman profession. And so being a minority and pursuing this, I feel like it’s come with its own obstacles.
The maternal mortality rates with Black and Brown moms, they’re three to four times more likely to die when it comes to birth and having babies and horrible birth outcomes, I really felt like I wanted to hone in on that, being a Black woman myself and being the change that I wanted to see.
[Evans: “Alright, are you feeling good movements?” Mom: “Oh, yes, he’s so active.” Evans: “Awesome.” Mom: “This is his favorite spot here.”]
I feel like it’s made a huge difference, for the families that I service, it’s almost like they see it as, I’m safe, I’m with someone who looks like me.
A lot of women that are in the hospital, they feel rushed. They don’t feel heard. They feel like they’re constantly given some type of medication.
At home we’re not doing that. For us it’s really important that they’re trusting their body. It’s not a hospital. We’re not putting you on your back. We’re letting you be up and move around and whatever your body is telling you wanna do.
My great grandmother is actually a midwife. She was a midwife. Being able to hear how she would travel late at night sometimes on foot to get to the other families that she needed to provide care for.
One time I heard she caught a 13-pound baby. So, it’s pretty impressive. I’m trying to beat her record.
I recently caught a baby that was 12 pounds, seven ounces. Mom was a total rock star. She had a beautiful home birth. She didn’t tear. And just seeing her and her excitement, seeing this massive baby, it was just beautiful.
Something that I think I learned from my grandmother and my aunts, and my mother, is really, like, honing in on herbs. They were believers that herbs could heal our body.
I am a new gardener. For me, being able to grow those herbs and be able to give it to clients, that’s huge because I feel like I’m giving them a part of myself.
For me again, it goes back to legacy. I feel like this was almost my birthright.
I’m able to carry on my great grandmother, a piece of her, and I’m really able to serve my community.
The Greene family is welcomed into Clarisa Evans’ cozy at-home examination room. A plate of strawberries and blueberries and a pitcher of water waits for the expecting parents on a small table situated between their two chairs. Behind them sits four jars of herbal tea blends labeled with their various uses: “iron support,” “calm tea blend,” “pregnancy tea blend,” and “postpartum tea blend.”
Two of the Greene kids are there, too, and find their way to the living room to play cars with the Evans kids and watch TV. Clarisa’s husband Anthony offers the adults espresso as everyone settles in for the appointment.
The Greene family is expecting to give birth at their own home. Clarisa Evan’s practice, Out of Eden Midwifery, aims to support them through that process.
Clarisa Evans demonstrates how to listen to a baby’s heart tones on her client and soon-to-be mother at Clarisa’s home examination room on Monday, April 1, 2024. Approaching eight months within the next week, Evans and the Greenes are eager to welcome their new child.
LAUREN WINSTON / NEXTGENRADIO
Loatha Benton, Clarisa Evans’ great-grandmother, was a midwife in the Northern California area. Knowledge passed on from Loatha through Clarisa’s maternal lineage is used in Clarisa’s own midwifery practice.
PHOTO COURTESY OF CLARISA EVANS AND SHIRLEY JOHNSON
Evans moved from her home in California to Lee’s Summit, Missouri, so that she could be closer to her parents, who came to Missouri for ministry. Growing up, Evans heard stories of how her great grandmother supported her own community through midwifery and herbal remedies.
Beginning her journey as a gardener, she aims to make herbs more accessible to her clients by growing them in her backyard, starting with alfalfa, nettle, and passion flower.
As a Black woman, Evans highlights the importance of addressing being represented in a predominantly white profession, especially since Black and Brown women experience the highest maternal mortality rates in the United States. Studies show that Black women are at least three times more likely to die due to a pregnancy-related cause when compared to white women. Evans aims to support her clients from prenatal to postpartum to ensure that the mother and child are not only surviving, but thriving.
Continuing her great grandmother’s legacy, Evans educates the whole family on how they can be involved in the birthing process, empowering mothers and encouraging families to provide hands-on emotional support.
“We see amazing birth outcomes when we know that mom is supported … [birth can be] very empowering for the whole family.”
Dedicating a significant amount of time getting to know clients is a key part of Evans’ practice. Seated comfortably in a semi-circle in the Evans’ home, the Greene family can celebrate their most recent work accomplishments, share movie recommendations, and marvel in the excitement of welcoming a new member into the family.
Doula Rochelle Hughes (left) speaks to expecting parents, the Greene Family (right) at their check-in appointment with Clarisa Evans in her home on a Monday evening. Working as a team, Hughes is able to hone in on emotional and informational support while Evans can conduct medical examinations.
LAUREN WINSTON / NEXTGENRADIO
“It’s different than a traditional [OB/GYN appointment],” Evans says. “Those appointments are like five to 10 minutes. Our appointments are 45 minutes to an hour and we talk about any and everything.”
To Evans, home is a sacred place and she aims to open her own home up to those who are opening up their homes to her.
Evans encourages clients to do their own research and reflection in order to determine if they want to have a home birth. Her advocacy for home birth is rooted in her personal experience through the birth of her son where she felt like she was not being heard in the hospital, leading to medical complications of preeclampsia, an emergency C-section, and risked stroke.
“I never wanted another mom to feel the way I felt.”
Through her holistic midwife practice, Evans is able to prioritize mothers listening to their bodies and consider alternatives to prescribing medicines through the use of herbal supplements.
“We make sure that they have everything in their birth kit. We bring their pool if they want to have a water birth. Family members [receive a] rundown of what the birth is going to look like, what happens if it’s an emergency, [and if] we need to transfer [to a hospital] … For us, it’s really important that [people birthing are] trusting their body … We’re letting you be up and move around and whatever your body is telling you, [we] want to do.”
Evans favors home births, but understands that for some scenarios home births may not be the best option for a family. If in the hospital or at other birthing locations, she encourages those birthing to know how to advocate for themselves.
“[Personally] I feel like home is your safest place. It’s very sacred, so, we’ve seen just beautiful birth outcomes being able to watch these families birth in a place that isn’t foreign to them,” Evans notes. “I would tell [mothers] to do their research, explore all of their options and see what’s best for their family.”
Home is the only place where Evans says she can imagine doing her work. With the support of her husband and kids, in a space where she can be her most authentic self, she carries on the legacy of her great grandmother through tradition and hope for new mothers.