My name is Lindsey Stidham, and I am a community midwife serving families in Dayton and the surrounding area. My work is grounded in relationship-based, physiologic care and shaped by years of experience supporting families through pregnancy, birth, and the early postpartum period.

I studied nursing and biology in a university setting while simultaneously immersing myself in birth work. Alongside my academic training, I spent more than fifteen years engaged in doula care, yoga training, and therapeutic herbalism, gaining hands-on experience that shaped how I understand bodies, families, and care both inside and outside of institutional systems. While I value the education and clinical foundation I gained through formal study, hospital-based care never felt aligned with the kind of time, continuity, and autonomy I believe families deserve.

I was drawn instead to community midwifery — a model of care that centers relationship, informed choice, and trust in physiologic processes.

My clinical training has been shaped by both formal and traditional lineages of midwifery. I trained through apprenticeship-based practice in busy community settings, working with North American Registry of Midwives (NARM) preceptors as well as traditional midwives whose knowledge is rooted in lived experience, continuity of care, and community-based practice. I have completed the primary midwife phase of education through the North American Registry of Midwives’ Portfolio Evaluation Process and plan to pursue licensure as it becomes available to Ohio midwives. My approach blends traditional midwifery wisdom with contemporary clinical skill, with an emphasis on shared decision-making and respectful care.

Outside of clinical practice, I am deeply connected to my community. I volunteer as a perinatal coach with Daybreak, supporting new parents as they navigate early parenthood and access local resources. I also work as a lactation consultant at Good Neighbor House, alongside Dr. Greg Notestein, providing reduced-fee and free care for infants and children experiencing feeding challenges related to oral anatomy.

I am committed to reproductive justice, human rights, and the health of the communities and ecosystems we share. When I’m not attending births or meeting with families, you’ll likely find me tending my garden, cooking something nourishing, or staying connected with my grown children — often over a lively game of Mario Kart.

I am so glad you’re here.