Cindy Dunleavy never knows when her phone is going to ring. It could be during dinner, when she’s out for a short hike on Pack Monadnock or in the middle of the night. All Dunleavy knows is that when a baby is ready to make its way into the world, she needs to get out the door and be prepared for whatever comes next.

Over her almost 40 years as a midwife, Dunleavy estimates she’s been part of more than 1,400 births. All around the Monadnock region, there are children and adults who don’t remember the time they first met Dunleavy, but that’s because she was there for day one.

Since sharing that special moment with parents in towns all over Southern New Hampshire, Dunleavy has been reintroduced to many of those little ones she held just moments after they leave their mother’s womb. In fact, Dunleavy has gone on to help mothers and fathers she helped birth with the arrival of their own precious bundles of joy.

“I get to see some of my clients again who are welcoming their first grandchild,” she said.

Each birth is special and comes with its own unique story. And does Dunleavy have some good ones to look back on. But the care for Dunleavy doesn’t end at birth. She continues to visit families in the days and weeks that follow.

“It’s very necessary for the moms and babies to get care at home in those first few weeks,” she said.

And there’s a lot of time spent prior to the big day “getting to know each other so the mom will feel comfortable calling us,” Dunleavy said.

When Dunleavy first arrived in New Hampshire, it was only supposed to be for a short time. She was covering for a midwife with a practice in Temple that Dunleavy had helped assist in the past. Then that midwife made the decision not to return to the area and it gave Dunleavy the opportunity to take over an established midwifery practice in a place less than two hours from where she grew up in the North Shore area of Massachusetts.

As a teenager, Dunleavy worked as a lifeguard/swim instructor. She volunteered at Hogan Regional Center in Hathorne, Massachusetts, working with children with disabilities and that was when she decided that her future would be in children’s physical therapist. At least that’s what she thought.

It was during that time at Hogan that she sat in on a lecture that covered the topic of prenatal and postpartum care in Europe.

“After that I decided to look into midwifery,” Dunleavy said. “It was still a way to assist people to be healthy.”

As she dove into her studies, Dunleavy realized the impact she could have for moms and babies. It was apparent early on that Dunleavy would have to live a life centered around her career, but the long, strange hours didn’t seem to matter.

“To be with a family when they are welcoming their new baby is a wonderful, joyous thing,” she said. “It’s totally worth being on call to be able to do this work. It’s really humbling and a privilege to be asked.”

While Dunleavy is there every step of the way, from women hoping to get pregnant to caring for mom and baby after birth, she sees herself as someone who is merely there to assist when a baby is ready to join its family – as the moms are doing most of the work.

“It’s the hardest work you’ll ever do, but the best work you’ll ever do,” Dunleavy said. 

Most of her clients choose to give birth at home, while some choose to go to a hospital, but want the kind of care provided by a midwife. Dunleavy is fine either way because she is simply honored to be a part of each and every one of them.

“This is really the most important thing in people’s lives,” she said. “It’s a wonderful thing to assist mom and baby and humbling in so many ways to be involved, to be a birth attendant for a family. They are very special times.”

While every birth is different, Dunleavy said in a lot of ways they’re all the same. Some babies come very quickly and “we just make it in time” while others involve hours of labor and mean a long day at the office.

With a unique set of skills that aren’t available in all corners of the world, Dunleavy has volunteered in places like Indonesia and Haiti. She has been to Haiti three times, her first coming after an earthquake rocked the country in 2010. A former student called her about helping and Dunleavy immediately said yes and boarded a plane not sure of what she would find upon arrival.

She helped in hospital camps near the capital of Port-au-Prince “basically doing what we were needed to do,” Dunleavy said.

It was eyeopening to see the difference in available care, while the country was in shambles around her. But Dunleavy tried to remember a bit of advice she received: to always look at the person in front of you.

“It was shocking to see things happen that would be very simple to take care of here, but not there,” Dunleavy said. “It was a wonderful thing to be able to help, but quite overwhelming. You recognize how many blessings we have here.”

It was during that first trip that Dunleavy realized the impact she could make, even if it was for only a few weeks at a time.

With a job that can be quite stressful and includes odd hours, Dunleavy has found ways to unwind through Kyudo, a form of Japanese archery, and Shorin Ryu karate, which she practices at a dojo in Brookline.

“It’s great for focus and relaxing for me,” Dunleavy said.

But the most athletic thing she’s ever done was swim seven miles across Spoonwood Lake, a full day on the water organized by a couple of her clients.

She’s also in the process of building a large garden at her Temple home, which shouldn’t surprise anyone considering her husband Lincoln Geiger is one of the founding members of the Temple-Wilton Community Farm. Dunleavy also makes maple syrup in the spring from trees on her property.

Dunleavy has lived in the same Temple home for 30 years, where her two children spent many of their influential years. Her son Dana now lives in New York and is an interventional radiologist. His wife Sarah is a veterinarian and they have two girls, Ella and Callie. Her daughter Jessica Fleuriel lives in Brattleboro and is a service coordinator at Families First, while her son-in-law Justin is a chef.

“My children and grandchildren are the biggest joys in my life and I want to help families share that joy,” Dunleavy said.

Dunleavy feels fortunate to be practicing her life’s work in this little corner of New Hampshire.

“We are very lucky in New England, but particularly in New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts,” Dunleavy said. The importance put on the care in obstetrics is second to none, she said.

And Dunleavy also speaks from experience as she used a midwife for both her children, the same one she completed her training with.

When that phone rings, Dunleavy can’t help but get excited. It means a new life is about to enter the world – and there is no greater joy than that.

]]>