Our Growing Family

I know I always gush and gush about the wonderful people God connects with Charis Childbirth. But, I just can’t help it! This month, we are adding a new staff member who has stolen my heart and I am certain that you will also grow to love and appreciate who she is and all she is bringing into the Charis family.

Andrea Kuntze is stepping in to fill Christy Hicks’ shoes while Christy focuses her energy and attention on growing a human being who will be born sometime in September (Congratulations, Christy!!!).  Now, don’t worry, Christy is still an important part of the Charis family and will be back in the saddle after her babymoon. By that time, we will need both Christy and Andrea to keep things moving forward in Charis!

I first met Andrea when she moved to southwest  Florida from Illinois last year and needed a midwife.  The first time I met with Andrea, her husband, and their adorable daughter Abigail, I fell absolutely in love with them!  Andrea is a wonderful wife and mother, is passionate about helping women have positive birth experiences, and feels a calling to be a midwife herself.  I had the honor of serving as their midwife and was enormously blessed to be with her as she delivered her baby Betsy this past December.

At her last postpartum visit, I mentioned to Andrea that I was looking for a perfectionist to serve as my administrative assistant for my midwifery practice since Christy was not going to be able to continue working.  I asked her to keep her eyes and ears open for anyone who fits the “perfectionist” description.  She asked what the job entailed and I described the responsibilities.  She said, “You know you just described me, right?”  Well, since Andrea lives an hour away, I never imagined she would want to work for me, but she and her husband were both enthusiastic about the possibility.  Andrea’s “resume” is pretty impressive, with a background in office management and accounting and her love for everything birth related, so I hired her on the spot!  Once she got into the swing of things with LifeSong Midwifery, I asked if she would like to work for Charis Childbirth as well, and she was crazy enough to say YES!

Those who attended the recent Charis workshop and had the privilege of meeting Andrea face to face all agreed that she truly has the Charis heart!

This month, Andrea (with baby Betsy in tow) will begin to gradually add Charis duties to her workload.  Thank you all for your patience as we have been operating without our administrative staff for a couple months.  Many things fell through the cracks, but Andrea will have it all running smoothly in no time.

We are thrilled to have Andrea Kuntze as part of the Charis “family”!

Blessings,
Kristin Schuchmann, CPM, LM
Executive Director, Charis Childbirth, Inc.

P.S. In the midst of all the other craziness of the past few months, I also encountered some e-mail problems.  If you sent an e-mail to Charis sometime within the last 4 months that has not received a reply, please send a new e-mail.  There is a possibility that it was not received.  (I promise I haven’t been ignoring anyone on purpose!) Thank you for your understanding.