Acorn Community Birth & Wellness Center

My name is Debbie, I am a wife of 35 years and we have 7 children (3 by birth and 4 by adoption), 7 grandkids, and 2 great granddaughters! My calling to midwifery started with my great-grandmother in Mexico. During one of her 10 births with a partera (Mexican midwife) she was introduced to Christ. She shared that faith in God with my grandmother. After the death of her husband, her family immigrated to the US to begin a new life. My grandparents met and were married in San Diego and raised their family here. I learned from my grandma and mom how to care for moms and babies, how to use herbs for healing and how to depend on God. My grandma and mom supported me during my own journey to motherhood which started at 16. My first two deliveries were in the hospital and I lived first-hand through many pregnancy complications and a NICU stay with my second baby. Four years later, I met and married my husband who was in the Navy, so we moved all over the US. We struggled with
secondary infertility for 11 years. During that time we adopted a baby boy, who I re-lactated for. My calling came full circle following the birth of my miracle “rainbow” baby. After months of interventions and memories of my past births, I made the decision that “there was no place like home” to have my baby. I had a wonderful empowering pregnancy and home birth with a midwife that believed in me and worked hard to keep me home. I delivered with 12 of my closest family and friends surrounding me. After that experience I couldn’t shake the call to midwifery.

When my husband retired from the military in 2006, I started midwifery school and over the next 15 years I sat in apprenticeships under 6 different midwives. I also served as a doula, childbirth/parent educator and Certified Lactation Counselor, with additional training in tongue ties. I specialized in teen pregnancies and those with special needs like gestational diabetes, hyperemesis, twins, breech and VBAC. I was privileged to receive additional training in herbs and homeopathic remedies and sexual abuse survivors. During COVID, I passed my NARM exam and was licensed in both Minnesota and South Dakota as I served in the rural farm country along the borders of these two states. We now live with my parents after having been away for 28 years.

In honor of my grandparents, in 2015 I formed a nonprofit, El Nido Birth and Family Ministries. We provide resources and support for a better understanding of health that is relevant to families daily lives. Women have an inborn knowledge of how to give birth, as pregnancy and birth are “normal” physiological processes. But, as evidenced by my own three births, normal differs with each pregnancy, birth and baby. As a community midwife, my passion is to build relationships and strong partnerships steeped in communication. Health is shaped by many factors, so I teach to empower families as they make decisions that are right for them. My goal is to provide quality services, within a family-friendly environment, of respect and care that meets their needs and serve as a support base for them, whether physical, emotional or spiritual. I see the blessing of childbirth with the central idea that birth is a gift and as such is a blessed, natural, and empowering experience.

In my spare time, I enjoy working in my vegetable and flower gardens, making sourdough bread, and most importantly spending time with my grandkids and great grands and watching old movies with my husband and mom. I am excited to see what this next chapter in life, has for us.

Dara DeSoto has dedicated over 13 years to supporting families across Orange County and San Diego as a birth and postpartum doula. Throughout her career, she has had the privilege of attending hundreds of births, honoring each family's unique journey across hospital, home, and birth center settings.

Driven by a lifelong dream to practice midwifery, Dara enrolled at Mercy In Action College of Midwifery in 2021 — coincidentally, the same year her daughter began her own university journey. Her path serves as a personal testament to her belief that it is never too late to pursue one’s heart’s desire. After earning her Bachelor of Science in Midwifery, Dara completed intensive training at a high-volume birth center and is now a Licensed Midwife in both California and Idaho.

Dara is deeply committed to the safety of community birth and the power of collaborative care. She approaches every family with compassion, clarity, and respect, rooted in a firm belief in the innate strength of birthing people. A longtime friend of Acorn Community Birth and Wellness Center, she finds immense joy in serving the families of its community.

Today, Dara balances her time as a Clinical Midwife at Acorn with her own private home birth practice. Outside of her midwifery work, she has been married to her husband for 30 years; together, they share the joy of four young adult children and one grandchild.