Tel Viehmann Cunningfolk, LM, CPM, IBCLC
Licensed Midwife and Lactation Consultant
They / Them
My journey to midwifery started with MY OWN birth.
I was born in a hospital birth center into the hands of certified nurse midwives (CNMs). My mother proudly birthed me and my sister at the same birth center with no medication or unnecessary interventions. This experience deeply influenced her life and mine – I grew up hearing the story of my birth again and again throughout my childhood. At every baby shower (after my aunt shared that the best way to give birth was to ask for drugs before you even left the hospital parking lot), my mother stalwartly reaffirmed that natural birth was possible, breastfeeding was desirable, and cloth diapering was do-able. It stuck with me.
Even so, I still didn’t know that homebirth was an option until my senior year in college. I had been searching for a way to make a career out of reproductive health when I came upon an advertisement for a midwifery school. Shortly after, I took a labor doula course through CAPPA with the pressing, nagging thought that being a doula sounded nice, but at the end of the day I really wanted to be a midwife. Then my cousin’s wife had a baby boy and invited me to be their doula. It was my first birth. I was smitten, and when I walked out of the hospital that day I knew for certain that I was meant to be a midwife.
Since 2013, I have been practicing as a Licensed Midwife and Certified Professional Midwife located in California. I became an IBCLC (International Board Certified Lactation Consultant) in 2023. I am also an Abdominal Therapy Practitioner, trained in the Arvigo Techniques of Maya Abdominal Therapy®. I graduated from Birthwise Midwifery School in Bridgton, Maine, and prior to midwifery school I earned my BA from Mount Holyoke College. As a midwifery student, I trained in intensive apprenticeships with seven midwives all around the country in Topsham, ME; Austin, TX; Mesa, AZ; and finally in Los Angeles, CA. It is a very unique aspect of my training that I was able to work with so many midwives, learning from their wisdom and practice styles and incorporating the very best of it all into who I am as a midwife and how I practice.
I love serving families as they grow and expand during the childbearing year. The processes of giving birth and becoming a parent (whether for the first or seventh time) is beautiful, intensely powerful, messy, and transformative. I see myself as a facilitator, helping you give birth to yourself throughout the entire experience of pregnancy, labor, birth, and postpartum.
I live in Sacramento with my partner Alexis and our children.
Photo Credit: Little Wonders Photography
Amy Ferrucci
Administrative Assistant and Student Midwife
She / Her
This has been the most rewarding experience of my life.
My name is Amy Ferrucci and I am a Student Midwife. My journey into birth work began with the birth of my first child. I gave birth at age 19 in a hospital, with nurses and providers I didn’t know. My providers used medical language I didn’t understand and performed procedures I didn’t know I could say no to, and some I did say no to. I started my research on doulas and midwives, and pursued education by taking some weekend courses and reading anything available on the subject.
I then became pregnant with my second child, and I knew immediately what I wanted. I wanted midwives and a homebirth. This experience truly shifted my perspective - the care I received throughout my pregnancy, even after a non-emergent transfer during my labor, and during my postpartum, was something I had never experienced before in any medical setting. I had a choice, I made informed decisions, and I felt like my midwives knew me better than anyone, like dear friends. I knew I had to be a midwife.
Prior to midwifery school, I was a practicing certified massage therapist, working in a chiropractic office. After starting birth work, I focused on prenatal massage. I’m also a registered yoga teacher. This knowledge deeply informs my understanding of the body and mind connection and advice I share with clients.
I was trained and certified as a Midwife Assistant in 2016 and started attending home births with a Licensed Midwife in 2017 as often as I could. In 2019, I enrolled at National College of Midwifery as a student midwife, and am now nearing my final phase. Outside of parenthood, this has been the most rewarding and challenging experience of my life.
I have made it my focus to serve families of all backgrounds. I firmly believe all people deserve compassionate, trauma informed and consent based health care, including the humans growing inside their parents. People deserve to lead their own care, make informed choices, and choose their birth team and know they can trust them with their lives. Even if the labor turns into a transport to a hospital, I want to know my clients know what they’re walking into and still have me by their side as support. I love watching families grow and change and bond through a birth, and I love quietly making sure everything is safe and normal
I’m a mother to two beautiful children and partner to a very supportive and loving person. I love being outdoors, being in nature grounds me and clears my mind. I love practicing yoga, cooking for my family, gardening, reading, roller-skating, and coloring in adult style coloring books. I am delighted to work with Tel and Taproot’s diverse clientele! It’s an amazing opportunity I am so grateful to have.