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  • Chelsea Halverson LM, CPM WA/ID

    Hi! I’m Chelsea, mama to two beautiful, wildy boys and married to my high school sweetheart of one million years. I was born and raised in the Spokane area, my husband and I both graduated from Medical Lake. We live on a small farm outside Cheney with our flock of chickens and turkeys, a handful of silly goats, our three horses, Maple, Pancake, and Chicken, our poodle, Nixon and however many barn cats are hanging around at the moment.

    We love to spend as much time as possible outside, you can usually find us riding four wheelers, picking wildflowers, wildcrafting herbs, spending time with our animals, or on a lazy hike when the sun is shining. During the summer, we also love to go to farmers markets and rodeos. My boys are both aspiring cowboys, my youngest loves to mutton bust, takes riding lessons and is learning to throw a rope like a champ and my big kid is dipping his toes into the world of calf and steer riding. They both have a huge heart for animals and can almost always be found with a cat or chicken in their arms or wrapped around a horse's belly.

    We are a homeschooling family, leaning more toward unschooling, teaching throughout the day by living our lives. We love to cook and bake together, care for and process our animals when the need arises, and are forever working toward the garden of my dreams.

    After several late term losses and hospital experiences that felt rushed, impersonal and traumatic, I gave birth to my younger son at home. His birth healed a wound in my heart that felt irreparable. I will never forget sitting in my bed with my tiny newborn, researching how to become a midwife. I knew this was where I belonged, holding mamas, reminding them of their strength, witnessing them, holding space for them, and having the profound privilege of watching them dig deeper than they knew they could to bring forth a new life. I became a midwife for the mamas, the babies are a wonderful perk, but the mothers are the ones who truly leave a mark on my heart with each pregnancy and birth I am allowed to walk alongside them. The word midwife means “with woman”, and that is where I love to be, with a woman who has embraced her power and trusted me to walk beside her.

A newborn baby undergoing a medical procedure, being held gently by a woman wearing a rainbow-striped headband and glasses, with a medical professional in blue gloves assisting in the background.

  • CPM, LM

    Becoming a midwife has been a longtime dream of mine. It began as a quiet ember after the tender care I received from my midwife when my first baby was born. My slow burn ignited after my second baby, and my first home birth. I knew without a doubt that I wanted to hold families in their most vulnerable, pivotal transformations in life with tender care, just as I was.

    I dipped my toes into the water by first training as a doula. I ran Evergreen Valley Doula Services for birth, postpartum, and specialty doula services such as belly mapping and postpartum meals beginning in 2016. I have a such a deep reverence for this work and all of its facets. I began as a student midwife in 2022 and completed my clinical numbers at the tail end of 2023. In July of 2025 I sat for my NARM exam and received my CPM. I obtained my Idaho LM, and am currently working through WA processing.

    I’m a mom to four. My favorite place to be is anywhere spending time with my little wild things and adventuring. Any spare time I can conjure up is best spent on creative activities or outside in nature. I’m a nurturer to my core and enjoy gardening, cooking, and taking time to pour into others.

Our Story

Chelsea and Aubrey’s story together began while they were students at Wild Womb Midwifery. At the time, Chelsea was wrapping up phase two of four for the NARM portfolio evaluation process (PEP) and getting ready to head into her primaries while Aubrey was just getting started with her assisting phase. As the schedule for Wild Womb picked up they spent a lot of time attending clinic and births together and learned that working together was seamless and just felt right. Cue becoming attached at the hip and finding any way to make a one person job into two, while also being able to divide and get the work done…just as long as it could be done together. The opportunity for being able to learn together, problem solve, and also learn from each other fostered a rich growth of teamwork and skills that continued well past Chelsea’s completion of PEP and licensure, and Aubrey finishing up her numbers. It wasn’t long after that they decided that they wanted to continue the dynamic duo because two is in fact better than one in this story. So, Thistle & Fern become a labor of love and began our adventure as our very own team.

Why Thistle & Fern?

Thistle and Fern Midwifery is named for, and rooted in the wisdom of the wild. The thistle, known for its fierce beauty and protective thorns, represents strength, resilience and sacred boundaries. Thistles have a long history in folklore as a guardian plant, warding off harm and standing tall even in harsh conditions.

Ferns, ancient and gentle, their unfurling leaves embody the mystery and beauty and fragility of new life. They are symbols of fertility, new beginnings and unseen realms. Ferns are deeply rooted in forest lore and rituals, often associated with the liminal space between worlds. They represent the quietly magical unfolding of growth, the unseen becoming seen. Together, these plants honor the balance of strength, vulnerability, and calm surrender that birth requires.

This name reflects our connection to the earth, the cycles of nature and the moon, and the ancestral ways of walking beside you through your pregnancy and attending your birth in quiet confidence in your body and baby. It’s a nod to plant medicine, to witchy wisdom, to soft moss and strong roots. It’s for the families that wish to birth boldly, without fear, surrounded by midwives who are intuitive, grounded and just a little magic. We strive to provide care that is warm, informed, evidence based and woven with both strength and softness.

  • Two women, one with curly hair and dressed in black, leaning over the edge of an inflatable pool, while the other with tattoos and wearing a black shirt, stands nearby watching in a home interior.
  • A woman with tattoos on her arm hugging a newborn baby with a happy expression on her face inside a cozy room.
  • A woman in a black shirt and patterned headscarf is sitting at the edge of a bathtub, with her arms resting on the rim. She is wearing gloves and looking towards a person in the tub who is partially visible. In the background, two women are sitting at a table, one resting her head on her hands, observing the scene.
  • A woman lying on a bed with a purple exercise ball between her legs, receiving assistance from a woman standing next to her, while another person with a laptop is seated nearby in a cozy room with warm lighting.
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  • Two women, one sitting on a bed and the other standing behind her, are in a room near an open door. The standing woman is smiling and hugging the seated woman from behind. The seated woman has a tattoo on her neck and is wearing gloves. There are medical supplies and a notepad on the bed.
  • A woman with tattoos giving birth in a bathroom, supported by two friends, one on each side.
  • Group of women and a newborn baby in a cozy room, some sitting on a bed, one in a black top with visible tattoos, another in a black shirt with tattoos, and one in a pink shirt."}
  • Two women, one with curly hair and the other with dark hair, both wearing black clothing and blue gloves, are providing support to a client in a dimly lit room.
  • A woman sitting on a bed receiving an infusion, smiling. Another woman kneeling beside her, holding her hand, with a tense expression. The room appears cozy, with a window, pillows, and medical supplies on the bed.
  • A woman holding a newborn baby in an indoor setting, smiling and looking down at the baby.
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  • A woman is holding a newborn baby on a bed, with another woman sitting nearby and smiling. The scene appears to be in a home setting.
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  • A person holding a newborn baby, who is crying and grimacing. The person is wearing a black shirt and a smartwatch, and their head is bent down, kissing or sniffing the baby's head.