Kinship Midwifery was founded by Alia Clark a Licensed Midwife and mother of 3. We are Located on the Central Coast of California serving San Luis Obisbo and Northern Santa Barbara Counties.
About Us
Alia Clark LM CPM | Midwife | Founder
I’m Alia, a midwife, and mother of 3 babies all born at home with midwives. I enjoy photography, whole food, beach days with my family, hiking, being outdoors, concerts, getting together with friends, and anything kid related! Did I mention all things birth and wellness?
I take tremendous pride in being called a midwife and feel very humbled to serve my community. Part of my life’s work is to support and empower those to make informed, evidence based decisions about their bodies. I feel that every individual needs something a little different during their health journey and I happily cater to that. I not only hold space for pregnant people, but also for babies, non pregnant women, folks who are trying to conceive, those planning to birth in a hospital, those who are lactating, and those who are in need postpartum. I believe in the power, sacredness, and years of passed down wisdom that midwives have to offer. Before the medical system it was us. I believe the medical model of maternity care, gynecological care, and reproductive care serves a beneficial purpose in many experiences. Being cared for by a midwife is not meant to replace that of the medical model, it is meant to offer something completely different. Midwife translates to “with woman” and that, my friends, is what we do. My goal as a midwife is to act as a guide, a gatekeeper, a healer, and a mother. I pride myself in risk assessment, viewing the body as one big map of many crossroads and interconnected webs. I specialize in holistic treatment before allopathic medicine if it is a safe and warranted time to do so.
My career in healthcare began as a certified nurse assistant in 2009 working in many acute care settings such as hospitals, psychiatric wards, long term rehabilitation facilities, and a maximum security prison. Along that journey I met a home birth midwife who invited me to her home group for birth workers and that is where my interest for midwifery was sparked. After working in western / allopathic medicine I decided to make my dream of becoming a midwife reality. I enrolled at The National College of Midwifery in 2013. I apprenticed for 3 years in my hometown of Redding, CA before relocating to Arroyo Grande, CA and finishing out the rest of my 5 year apprenticeship here on the Central Coast. I was honored to have learned from 9 midwives in the course of my training. From there I obtained my Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) via the North American Registry of Midwives (NARM) and also my Licensed Midwife (LM) from the California State Medical Board. After obtaining licensure in 2018, Kinship Midwifery was born.
Welcome to the clan, thanks for being here.
Alexandra Klein | Administrative Assistant
I'm thrilled to share a little about me! I am Alexandra (McCutcheon) Klein. I was born and raised in the Central Valley (Modesto, CA), attended California State University, Fresno, and moved to the central coast in February of 2011. Four months after moving to Santa Maria I had started my CrossFit journey which led me to meeting my now husband Andrew Klein. We navigated life as a couple and began trying to get pregnant in October 2013. Unfortunately after about a decade of birth control my body was not functioning optimally and I was not pregnant as we had hoped. We started Chiropractic Care and within 3 months of starting treatment with Dr Bronstein in Grover Beach, I found out in April of 2014 I was expecting our first child. We went the archaic role of OB care with Dr Callahan in Santa Maria. Pregnancy, labor, birth, and postpartum were all "fine" and "normal" compared to the stories I had heard from friends. I was induced at 39 weeks in November 2014 and my beautiful 8lb 8oz daughter was immediately placed on my chest. In December 2016 I gave birth to our second daughter, with Dr Callahan as my surgeon, she was 8lbs 3oz and born via Cesarean due to breech presentation. I struggled with my birth and postpartum for years. Her birthday is still a very visceral day for me but we are in a much more connected place at this point in our lives. This birth made me push away all dreams and goals of having a large family. The suffering I endured after that surgical birth was not something I wanted to or believed I could mentally and emotionally endure again.
So we went on to live life as a family of 4 with no desire to make more babies. Well we went on our first vacation without babies and came back with the best souvenir we could ever think of! I was pregnant with our third daughter, due July 2013. We went to our dating ultrasound appointment with Dr Callahan and he confirmed I was a great candidate for VBAC! Music to my ears! The next statement though, was my game changer. "Hopefully by the time you deliver Marian will be on-board with VBAC too!" he said.
Immediately, I knew he could no longer be my care provider. I connected with Alia as we ended care with Dr Callahan and transitioned to Midwifery care. My husband, a firefighter for 25+ years at the time, was terrified. I, hippie and God-centered, knew I was made to do this and through prenatal appointments realized Alia was just the provider I needed to reassure me of my abilities. In July 2013, I gave birth to my biggest baby of the bunch, 9lbs 12 oz, at home, in our children's bathtub, for a Homebirth VBAC. My world was rocked and I was a whole new woman.
As we navigated life and the baby girl started teetering around the house we decided we needed one more baby to complete our family. We wanted to give our kids a partner so that they always had a pair. We prayed for a fourth baby. We were blessed to find out we were able to get pregnant again and this time it just so happened to be a baby boy. This pregnancy was the first one that I was under Midwifery care from the beginning and man oh man is it so different. The fear was gone, there wasn't any inkling of doubt in my body, I was able to nurture my daughters and be present with my son in my belly. As we approached his due date we determined he was breech. During my time as a Doula, I had seen versions be done, I had seen versions be attempted and not work but create space for baby to move later, I also had seen vaginal breech birth and I was not afraid. I was confident that whatever path we would be led to was perfectly created for our family. We decided to attempt a version with Alia in my home. So as I laid laughing with the Midwife team, my toddler daughter crawled on me and played, and baby boy flipped head down with the gentle guidance of his team. We went on to have another magical, calm, and peaceful homebirth two weeks later. Our final child, our son, was born at 9lbs 10oz, a 2HBAC.
Throughout this journey I continued to grow and shift, shedding layers with each transformation through birth. When I moved here in February 2011 I was working as a Benefits Specialist with Your People Professionals; Sandra Dickerson took a big leap and brought me here for a job that forever changed my life. When I had my first daughter I was unable to return to work. I couldn't emotionally take it and decided to transition to being a stay at home mom. During this time I also became a CrossFit gym owner, BIRTHFIT Coach, and USA Weightlifting Coach. After the birth of my third daughter I determined I would become a Doula to support other families as my Doula, Christal Roldan, had done for me. As I transitioned into my Doula career, I also founded SMV Doula Collective so that other Santa Maria families would be able to find the Doula they needed in our area. Finally after the birth of my son I came to the realization that birth would forever be a part of my career path and I wanted to get more involved. Fortunately, Alia presented the opportunity for me to work alongside her as an Administrative Assistant. I love helping manage clients, appointments, results, and care. I am often cheering or praying for each family as lab and ultrasound results come in or as I bill for care. I truly love supporting families in this capacity. One day, I anticipate this bio to include Midwife as another role I take on, but we aren't there quite yet.
