Welcome! I’m so glad you’re here. I’m Karis Johnson, a home birth midwife in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I have been married to my husband, Gage, for almost a whole decade and we have lived a lot of life together in those years. We got married while still in college at Oklahoma Baptist University, and after only five months of marriage we found out I was pregnant with our first baby. I walked proudly across that stage to receive my Bachelors in Psychology with an 8-months pregnant belly. I asked for my daughter’s name to be included on my degree since she was with me, but they said no. Worth a shot. I gave birth to Evelyn in 2017, Herschel in 2019, Arlo in 2022, and Dottie in 2024.
I am a self-proclaimed coffee snob, and my current favorite beans are roasted locally from Coracle Coffee. I strongly believe that the best holiday is Thanksgiving because I love gathering with my people, eating good food, and playing highly competitive games as if my life depends on winning. My favorite shows to have on in the background are Friends, The Office, New Girl, and How I Met Your Mother. My faith is a big part of my life—it keeps me grounded, gives me hope, and occasionally reminds me to watch my language. I am very bad at finishing even the best of books, and I always feel a little ashamed about this fact. I believe the hardest thing about adulthood is finding and cultivating deep friendships, so I am very loyal to the friends in my life. My favorite season is Autumn and I think summer is overrated. While this isn’t everything you need to know about me, I feel like it’s a good start!
Meet the Midwife
While I would love to tell you that home birth has always been my passion and that I come from a long line of women who have babies at home - I can’t. I had Evelyn the American way, with a 39-week elective induction. BUT because of my choice to hire a doula and decline an epidural, I fell in love with birth. I’ve never felt more empowered and proud of my body than I did immediately after giving birth! I truly never knew how capable I was until I was surrounded by my people doing the hardest work of my life. I went on to have my second baby at a birth center, and my last two babies were born in my bedroom. Being tucked into bed after my first home birth was when I knew I finally got it right.
I started midwifery school when I was pregnant with Arlo and finished midwifery school when I was pregnant with Dottie because I like to do things the hard way. There’s a level of grit that home birth moms have, and that grit has carried me through some really tough stuff. Do you know what you deserve after you do a really hard thing? Rest. That’s why my favorite part about helping you give birth at home is helping you take a shower and then tucking you into a clean set of sheets with your fresh baby. And unlike in the hospital, I will not knock on your door every 37 minutes to ask how you’re sleeping while your husband is sore from the world’s least comfortable couch.
I can tell you all the credentials, trainings, expertise, and licenses I have (and I will later because I legally have to), but I can also assure you that NOTHING prepared me to be a midwife more than being a home birth mom. I understand the choices you are facing and the heavy weight of responsibility that comes with intentional parenting. I also deeply understand the joy and reward of walking this path.
My Journey
I am nationally certified by the North American Registry of Midwives as a Certified Professional Midwife. I am also a Licensed Midwife by both the state of Oklahoma and the state of Texas. These licenses allow me to legally carry life-saving medications and emergency equipment that can be needed during birth, although I do not need to use them often. I have been a certified doula since 2020, and while I no longer take doula clients, my time as a doula equipped me with a toolkit of skills that serve me well in home births even now. I have an ongoing certification in neonatal resuscitation that I renew every two years, as well as certification in Basic Life Support that renews in the same time frame. I attended school at the Association of Texas Midwives Midwifery Training Program, and completed my clinical training under some of Tulsa’s most experienced midwives.
My Credentials
