About
About Amma Midwifery
Amma Midwifery is the midwifery & lactation practice of Anjali Sardeshmukh (She/Her), based in Huichin territory, Oakland, California. I provide midwifery & lactation care in Oakland and the greater East Bay & SF, and occasionally Miami, Fl. Amma Midwifery was established in 2009 in Miami, Florida and named after one of the South Asian words for “mother.” In the fall of 2021, my practice was reborn as Amma Midwifery, to honor my grandma, who taught us how special it was to be cared for and to be loved.
Photo by Lara Kaur.
About Anjali
My mother's story of birthing my younger brother in India with Amma, her mom, by her side, inspired me to become a midwife.
I am a certified professional midwife (CPM) and a licensed midwife (LM) in Florida since 2009, and in California since 2017. I have practiced midwifery in birth centers and at home. I became a lactation consultant (IBCLC) in 2024.
I have learned about pregnancy & birth from my family, community midwives, traditional birthworkers, hospital trained midwife colleagues, old school OBs, my midwife: Sheila Simms-Watson, my spiritual teacher: Melana Plains, the beautiful families I have supported, and from my beloved child, born at home on a tropical day.
Photo of my aunt, me, and my baby bro.
About the legacy
Birth is a profound rite of passage and and incredibly transformative. It is a dance between a new human and the person who is birthing them. Birth can be joyful, humbling, vulnerable, intense, healing, powerful, and an invitation to experience deep love.
I love midwifery’s reverence of this transformative journey. Midwifery is both simple in its approach and simultaneously profound: a legacy of ancient wisdom.
Midwifery honors our humanity, and our stories: past, present, and future.
Photo by Ariella Prol
About the future
Midwifery lives on with families choosing midwives and through the hands of future midwives. Please meet apprenctice midwife Kaiayo.
Kaiayo Z. Shatteen (they/she) is a Black Indigenous, Queer Mother of two young adults. They are blessed to reside on the Unceded Land of the Lisjan (Ohlone) People where they are a Reproductive Justice Advocate & Consultant, Apprentice Midwife, Herbal Alchemist, LGBTQ2S+ Equity Consultant and a Recovery Motivational Speaker.
They have a deep commitment to ending the injustice that puts BIPOC (Black Indigenous People of Color) and LGBTQ2S+ communities at the bottom when it comes to positive birth outcomes, access to inclusive and traditional health care, and equity in the workplace. They are committed to using their calm, healing energy to support and nurture their community. This work is an answer to Ancestral calling and they are guided by their Ancestors daily.
In 2019, their aunt became an Ancestor and during that transition, their Ancestors made it clear that Kaiayo needed to make a lifestyle change. They have been in recovery since June 2019 and have committed themselves to honor their Ancestors request, study Buddhism, share the benefits of their sobriety and stay on the path of recovery.
Photo of Kaiayo Z. Shatteen