Postpartum parting

The final postpartum visit always arrives more quickly than I expect.

There is warmth in this visit, but also a soft ache. As a home birth midwife, I walk closely with families during one of the most intense and transformative seasons of their lives. By the final visit, the fog is beginning to lift. Strength is returning. Trust has taken root. The questions are different now—less about survival, more about integration. I see parents stepping fully into themselves, no longer standing at the threshold of birth, but living on the other side of it. What a delight to witness this becoming.

When it’s time to say goodbye, I realize that while my scheduled visits end, the birth story lives on in their bodies and their hearts. We hug, they turn, and walk out of my office. Another family graduates from care. I feel deep satisfaction knowing that I was invited into something sacred and fleeting, and this family will continue forward, carrying their strength with them in the days ahead.