Isn’t it Lovely When Well-Woman Care and Community Collide? Special Guests: Sarah Roe and Erin Vande Lune
“We want to cultivate a community. We want to bring community back…[God] didn’t create us to be alone.”
It’s a celebration of women’s health and wellness as Tracy and Rachel welcome midwives and real-life sisters Sarah Roe and Erin Vande Lune to the podcast to share the story of how the (literal!) dream of launching Flourish Wellness and Birth Co. became a reality. Passion and empathy for their patients is evident as Sarah and Erin describe their shared vision of creating a safe space and community where women can feel empowered, seen, and known as they seek comprehensive, proactive healthcare and education for life stages from adolescence to post-menopause, including pregnancy care and the option for a birth center outside of a hospital setting. They discuss achieving balance in both their personal and professional relationships, as well as their journey of arriving on the same page through prayer, counsel…and falling down a flight of stairs. Sarah and Tracy bond over being Enneagram 9s with 8 wings and how these gentle peacemakers can also be powerful dreamers and doers, while Rachel responds to the nurturing atmosphere in the room by feeling compelled to spill emotionally intimate life details and is relieved to finally get to make a Call the Midwife reference. Tracy and Rachel are also delighted to acknowledge and celebrate season-long Isn’t it Lovely? themes of community and the importance of working toward an emotionally healthy identity.
Episode Mentions:
Flourish Wellness and Birth Co. Website: https://flourishbirthco.com
Flourish Wellness and Birth Co. Instagram: @flourish_wellness_birthco
Call the Midwife by Jennifer Worth
What Are You Loving:
Fortune’s Children: The Fall of the House of Vanderbilt by Arthur T. Vanderbilt II
Sarah Roe (pictured left) is a wife and a mother to 3 beautiful children: Leah (14), Caden (12), and Ryker (9). She and her family live on an acreage north of Humboldt, South Dakota with their 2 dogs, Tikka and Nova. She absolutely loves anything outdoors, listening to audiobooks and podcasts, playing in a local coed volleyball league, and running to all of her kids’ various activities.
Sarah graduated from Lennox High School in 2001 and attended South Dakota State University where she graduated in 2004 with a major in journalism. She loved the creativity and freedom the profession had to offer, however soon realized it did not offer her joy and purpose the same way caring for other people did. She returned to SDSU and completed an accelerated nursing degree, graduating graduated with her BSN in 2007. She practiced as a RN at Sanford Hospital in Sioux Falls for 8 years and was a maternal flight nurse for 6 of those years. She then pursued a Certified Nurse Midwife degree from Frontier Nursing University, graduating in 2015 and transitioning into a provider role at Sanford where she worked for 6.5 years in a full-scope CNM practice.
Flourish Birth Co. is a literal dream come true for Sarah and her sister Erin, and they are beyond excited to bring this type of care to the Sioux Falls area. They know God will continue to move in their plans and their lives to create something beautiful and glorifying to Him!
Erin Vande Lune (pictured right) is a wife of 21 years and a mother to 4 kiddos: Gracie (17), Karys (15), Addy (13) and Toby (11) - and a dog mom to her sweet golden doodles. She’s an enneagram 8, daily disciple, and immensely passionate individual. When not helping deliver babies or hugging her own, she loves traveling, reading a good book, hiking, and being in nature. She breathes easier in the mountains or by the ocean.
Erin is a protector, peace seeker, and nurturer by nature. Choosing to become a midwife has truly changed the way she feels about work. She now gets to help other women feel empowered as they bring their babies into this world and care and provide for their families. Her life goal is to have those who come into her presence feel seen, known, loved, and have a strong desire to know Jesus more.
She graduated from Lennox High School in 1999 and graduated from Azusa Pacific University with a degree in Molecular Biology. After spending some time at home with her children and teaching at a local college, she completed an Associates of Nursing degree in 2011. She practiced nursing in California, Iowa, and eventually Haiti, where her family lived and served for 2 ½ years. During that time, Erin realized that if you could keep mothers healthy and alive, families survived and even thrived! Erin and her sister Sarah decided to go back to midwifery school and graduated from Frontier Nursing University with their Certified Nurse Midwife degrees in 2015. What a gift it has been to be on this journey together. Erin and Sarah cannot wait to come alongside you in your care; it is their joy and privilege.