Joy

Joy Jech grew up in Northwest Washington and on Orcas Island in the San Juans. The birth of her son, Mountain, in 1998 sparked her interest in midwifery. Inspired by Ina May Gaskin, he was born in a school bus near the Canadian border with a midwife. After a 27 hours labor and a shoulder dystocia, Joy felt even more impassioned about natural childbirth, thankful for her midwife’s patience and wisdom. In 1999, when her son was one year old she lived in Kauai, Hawaii for one year attending births and becoming a licensed massage therapist. Joy is passionate about supporting women in adverse situations so that their births can be a transformative experience. In 2002 she founded an organization called “Birth Attendants” which brought pregnancy, labor, childbirth education and doula services to incarcerated pregnant women. She has a Bachelor’s of Science in Midwifery, and has been attending births at Andaluz since February of 2005. Joy is committed to supporting each of her clients individual pregnancy and birth processes.