Contact Kim at kimosterholzer@gmail.com today to inquire about Midwifery Services.
Welcome! I’m excited you’re here!
My life’s been filled with a myriad generous souls and some profoundly transformational moments. Those generous souls, bubbling over with wisdom and knowledge and insight, launched me into my moments of transformation. Those moments include my two homebirths, as well as proximity to the incredible pregnancies and births of hundreds of others.
I desire to pass what I’ve been given along!
I’m passionate about homebirth midwifery because of all it births into those who experience it—besides the precious babies. My heart as a mother, as a grandmother, and as a midwife in keeping this blog is to share what I’ve experienced and what I’ve learned—what’s served to so transform me—with the hope that others desiring like profound, transformational experiences will find themselves inspired and equipped to have them!
As often as I’m able I publish a post—usually stories—though you’ll find a plethora of practical materials here, too.
A handful of favorite stories include The Life of an Amishwoman, Evangeline, Homebirthing Daddy, My Favorite Part, and Haiti – Five Days and Seven Babies.
I’ve written a book about the nine incredible years I spent submersed in a homebirth midwifery apprenticeship called A Midwife in Amish Country, Celebrating God’s Gift of Life. The tale chronicles my struggle to master both the craft and idiosyncrasies of homebirth while tagging along after the woman who helped me birth my own babies at home. Through its pages I usher my readers behind the doors of 123 homes, a great many of which are Amish. It’s for sale on Amazon and Barnes & Nobles.
I’m deeply honored to be represented by the renown Wes Yoder of Ambassador and to have had my work polished to a high shine by the amazing skills of Regnery Faith’s Editor-in-Chief, Gary Terashita.
Nourish + Thrive began as a stack of short articles Kim crafted through her early days catching babies with an eye toward helping the families she served enjoy the most wonderful pregnancies, births, and periods of postpartum renewal possible. As the years slipped one past another, that little stack grew until, at last, this book was born.
From a description of what birth at home looks like to a closer look at the days and weeks that follow, from thoughts about nourishing lifestyles to tackling the aches and pains of carrying wee ones within, Kim shares the many lessons she’s learned serving moms, dads, and brand-new babies.
Your copy of Nourish + Thrive may be purchased at Amazon.
Services
On the birth attendance end of things, it’s my undying passion to serve low-risk mothers and babies through one of the most incredible of life events.
I provide educational materials and resources regarding birth and parenting designed to encourage, equip, and empower moms and dads as they begin the next phase of their lives with the newest members of their families. I also spend all the time those moms and dads require, answering questions and teaching as they work their way through the materials and resources I provide.
I make regular visits with my clients, both before and after birth, with an emphasis on the assessment and adjustment of lifestyle choices in order to optimize health and maximize their opportunity to enjoy the birthings of their dreams. Prenatally, I visit my clients every four weeks from 10 or 12 weeks through 28 weeks, every two weeks from 28 weeks to 36 weeks, and every week thereafter until the babies are born. At birth, I come when I’m called and remain until the birth has occurred and the mom and baby are stable and ready for me to depart. This holds especially true through a transport to the hospital. Postpartum, I visit between 24 and 48 hours post-birth, at five to seven days post-birth, at fourteen days post-birth, at six weeks post-birth, and at thirteen weeks post-birth. Most visits last between one and two hours. I provide additional care as necessary at no further cost.
I watch over the course of labor and birth with sensitivity to the hopes and desires of my clients foremost in my mind, even while tending carefully to the health and safety of the unrepeatable event. Many of the moms and dads I serve catch their babies themselves and, as a mother who twice enjoyed such a glorious experience, it’s my pure joy to have watched over so many others.
I’m thoroughly trained and able to detect conditions that require medical assistance, am trained and able to secure medical assistance, and am trained and able to provide emergency care while in the process of obtaining the medical assistance required.
I serve Colorado Springs, Colorado and occasionally southwest Michigan.
For a complete list of the many lovely midwives serving Colorado Springs, click here.
To see an accounting of my practice’s statistics, click here.
To see a copy of my practice guidelines, click here.
For those interested in seeing what a homebirth looks like, here’s a sweet slideshow Monet Nicole made of a birth I recently attended.
Professionally Speaking
I was born in a little mid-Michigan town in 1970, and I graduated from an at-home education in 1988.
I was trained into direct-entry homebirth midwifery by a direct-entry homebirth midwife—the midwife who attended my own homebirths—through an apprenticeship that spanned nine years and welcomed 123 beautiful babies to life. In 2002, I met the educational and experiential requirements set forth by the North American Registry of Midwives (NARM); submitted to the eight-hour, 350 question NARM examination; passed with a score of 89%; and became a Certified Professional Midwife (CPM). I renew my certification every three years. I earned the NARM Bridge Certificate in 2016.
I’m registered/licensed to serve in the states of Colorado and Michigan as a direct-entry midwife, and am thereby authorized to administer medications and IV fluids, as well as to repair first and second-degree lacerations. I renew my registration/license every year.
I’ve practiced twenty-one years as a CPM in both southwest Michigan and Colorado, and have attended the births of 742 babies, including multiple vaginal births after cesareans (VBAC), seven sets of twins, and thirteen breech babies, with babies ranging in size from 4lbs, 3oz to 12lb, 3oz, born to mothers spanning a full spectrum of particulars and demographics. I’ve even had the privilege of catching a baby born to a woman I caught while I was still an apprentice! Best of all, I was the midwife in attendance at the births of my seven grandchildren!
My homeborn daughter, Hannah Simmons, is also a CPM and my partner!
As a direct-entry midwife, I serve low-risk women through their childbearing years.
Additionally
I’m a Master Splankna practitioner and Craniosacral Fascial Therapy (CFT) practitioner.
And Personally
I was married to Brent Woodard, a Battle Creek police officer and youth pastor, from the fall of 1990 until his death at the age of thirty-six on January 12, 2007. We gave birth at home to Hannah in 1991 and to Paul in 1994, and we home-educated them through all of their school years except Paul’s final two—I educated Hannah right into her own career as midwife. Walking through the death of my husband and, three years before that, the death of my mother-in-law, was an apprenticeship of sorts all its own. I cared for both of them in turn, allowing each the fulfillment of their desire to die in the quiet and comfort of home, and I discovered that caring for those crossing from life is very much like caring for those crossing into life.
I met the extraordinary and inimitable Lieutenant Colonel Steven Osterholzer, a retired Apache helicopter pilot and Public Affairs Officer, in the springtime of 2012. I married him on one of the last days of 2013, and became stepmom to his three fabulous children, Brian, Adam, and Megan. At that time, I turned my first practice over to Hannah, and moved with Steven to his home in Colorado where I set up a second practice. After serving three years as a wildly successful JROTC officer in charge of the number one JROTC program in Denver, he transitioned to serve as chief of all eleven of Denver’s JROTC programs. Steve concluded his stint with the Denver Public School System when they mandated the covid vaccine in 2021.
Steve is now a hunting guide with Tri-State Outfitters, and is the founder and director of Of Mountains and Men, a non-profit organization serving to guide young men into Christian manhood.
And Steve’s a writer, too. He’s had eighteen stories, mostly about hunting, published in major magazines, and has authored a book! A Wilderness Filled Soul is available on Amazon!
I’m also an avid outdoorswoman! I love camping and canoeing and hiking, hunting and fishing. I’ve harvested one elk and two mule deer so far—not counting the six whitetails I’ve struck and killed with my vehicles!
I love to write, which likely is obvious! I’ve kept a daily journal for nearly thirty years. I love to create, too! I use pen and paper, watercolors and inks and colored pencils, fabrics, and cameras to express my wonder and appreciation of the world around me.
I love my family and I love my friends and I love my clients, and I’m wholeheartedly devoted to them! What would the woods and the waters, the mountains and the spreading skies, the scribblings and the forgings, and the attending of irreplaceable life events matter without kindred souls to share them with?
But first and foremost, I love my incredible God! He’s the sum and substance—He’s the lifeblood and breath and heartbeat—He’s the dream and the being—He’s the reason and the way of it all.
Again and again—a very warm welcome to you! You’ve blessed me with your visit ♥
Slideshow by Monet, Photographs of brand-new baby and mom with toddler by Brezi Swann
