January 2026: 1 Hello & 2 Goodbyes

January always arrives with a quiet kind of honesty, asking us to name what
we are welcoming, and what we are letting go of.

As we step into 2026, Dar a Luz is holding one hello and two goodbyes. We
are saying goodbye to familiar ways of working, to chapters that shaped us
deeply, to incredible colleagues and the roles and rhythms that carried us for
many years. These goodbyes are tender and not without grief, but they are
also necessary, making room for what comes next.

And the hello? The hello is to growth. To expanded care. To a new team. To
listening even more closely to what our community is asking for now.

One of the ways this is taking shape is through our expanded teen services
and the launch of our comprehensive sex education course. For years,
families have asked for developmentally appropriate, affirming, medically
accurate care and education for teens. We are proud to announce that this will
now be part of Dar a Luz’s offerings! These services are rooted in trust,
consent, body literacy, and respect, supporting teens and their caregivers
through some of the most formative years of life. We will have more
information soon about the comprehensive sex education course and how to
sign your teen up soon!

We are also looking forward to gathering together on Thursday, February 12th
for a special Galentines fundraiser for DAL at the Guild, a local movie theater.
In a season marked by change, coming together feels especially meaningful.
We hope you’ll join us to celebrate love, joy, and friendship with your gals.

This year will bring continuity and change, and we are stepping into it with
clarity, humility, and deep gratitude for the community that walks alongside us.

Thank you for every goodbye, every hello, and everything in between.

With care,
The Dar a Luz Team

DAL Updates

I was born in a small town just north of Philadelphia. At a very young age, I
was introduced to pregnancy and birth by my mother, an RN and Certified
Lamaze Instructor- helping her teach childbirth classes and bring partner
involvement into hospital labor and birth. Now considered normal, this was a
radical idea at the time. Her fearless and tenacious advocacy inspired me to
pursue a lifelong journey in caring for women of all ages and inspiring families
to envision “their birth, their way”. She believed that listening to and
respecting women should be without exception and that all women deserve
access to excellent care. Thus, my own journey as a midwife was born. I am a
second-generation women’s health warrior!

I attended the College of Wooster in Ohio where I completed my
undergraduate degree in Women’s Studies and Reproductive Ethics followed
by a year of studies at Maternidad La Luz in El Paso. Thereafter, I came to
New Mexico and was definitely “enchanted.” I found my new home in Santa Fe
where I became a Licensed Massage Therapist and attended births with a
local midwife. I also developed programs with several non-profit agencies,
including the creation of peer support groups for teen parents and for
survivors of sexual assault. Eventually, I returned to school, completing my RN
studies at the Santa Fe Community College and my master’s degree in Nurse-Midwifery
at the University of New Mexico. I left New Mexico to work in two
hospital-based practices in Michigan, which I truly loved because they
supported physiologic birth. I returned to New Mexico, back to the home of
my heart and soul, in 2014. For the last decade, I have been honored to be
able to provide comprehensive reproductive health care for women of all ages
here in Albuquerque and Rio Rancho.

Dar A Luz and I found each other in 2025 and I instantly felt like I had come
home, once again. It is an honor and privilege, as well as an immense joy, to
provide whole-person care with the amazing group of women at DAL- all
strong advocates of physiologic birth and committed to providing empowering
and nurturing care to women and families in New Mexico. I truly believe
that the journey of my life has brought me to exactly where I was meant to be.
Coming to DAL has afforded me the opportunity to provide comprehensive
care in a relaxing, trusted and welcoming environment.

My greatest joy is accompanying women along their journey of health and
wellness, as a trusted guide while they discover and navigate changes in their
lives. I have a love for working with teens. Young people are often feel
invalidated in our culture, simply for being young and a belief that they don’t
yet know who they are or what they need. My experience in working with
teens has been very different. I honor their lived experience and self-advocacy
as I do with all clients. What an opportunity it is to support them as they
transition from teens to young adults. Midwifery means “with women” of all
ages and this also informs my enthusiasm working with women in
perimenopause as they transition from one journey into the next. Women
deserve to be seen, heard, and believed and to have their story received with
open ears and an open heart. I am thrilled to be here at DAL, a supportive
place where women can speak and their lived experience and have their story
welcomed with gratitude and respect. I am so excited to be a part of the
expansion of care and services that we provide at Dar a Luz!

Come learn about the course content, meet the instructor, and get first
access to registration. This is a values-aligned, inclusive,
and developmentally appropriate program designed to support teens with
accurate information and real-life skills.

Two ways to attend:
💗 In person: Wed 1/21/26 from 6–7 PM at Dar a Luz (7708 4th St NW)
💻 Virtual: Sun 1/25/26 | 1–2 PM on Zoom

Agenda For Both Options:
First 30 mins: Course Overview
Last 30 mins: Open Q & A with the Instructor

For any questions, please contact gabriela@daraluzbirthcenter.org

Join us on Thursday, February 12th for a special Galentines fundraiser
benefiting Dar a Luz! Keep an eye out for a special newsletter with more
event details coming soon! 🩷

A Goodbye from Eliza Serna, CNM

Dear Dar a Luz community,

It is with a tender heart that I share that I am leaving the Dar a Luz midwife
family. For the past almost three years at Dar a Luz, I have lived my dream of
providing care that I believe in. This is the kind of care that I wish for my
daughter should she decide to become a mother, care that so many of you
know matters, care that I believe all women and birthing people deserve
access to. I cannot overstate how meaningful this work has been for me, how
much I have loved serving you, how much I have cherished being a part of
this community.

To all the clients I have served, thank you. You have taught me more than you
will ever know. Sitting by your side in Morning Song or Evening Star in the
wee hours as you labored to bring your baby, accompanying you to the
hospital when circumstances changed, listening in our clinic rooms as you
prepared to welcome a new life or processed what it’s like to have been caring
for that new life for the past couple of weeks, answering your phone calls at all
hours of the day and night, celebrating your triumphs, sitting with you in grief
– all of it, all of it, has been a profound honor. To walk with you on your
journeys…wow. I am forever changed. From the bottom of my midwife heart,
thank you.

I am in awe of Dar a Luz that Abigail birthed and nurtured, alongside so many
fierce and committed women for nearly 15 years. To my sister midwives,
nurses, and support staff at Dar a Luz– you are female bad-assery in the flesh.
What a gift to have shared a calling with you. I wish great success to the
women who will shepherd Dar a Luz into its next iteration as a health center.

What’s next for me, you might wonder? My heart is called to community birth;
it’s what I love and what I intend to keep on doing. Beginning fall 2026, I will
be opening a homebirth practice serving clients in Albuquerque and Santa Fe.
I am deeply committed to offering New Mexicans an option for out of hospital
birth with nurse midwives, providing care that is attuned, evidence-based,
individualized, and grounded in the normalcy of birth.

Please do not reach out to DAL to inquire about the home birth practice.
There will be a formal announcement closer to our opening with more information.

Keep on keepin’ on with much love and courage.

In gratitude,
Eliza

A Farewell from Sedona Kolchinsky, CNM

Dearest Dar a Luz Community,

There is nothing that I can say that will do justice to the beauty of working with
Dar a Luz families. The closest I can come is promising to carry each family,
nurse, and midwife who has helped shape me in my heart wherever I go. Dar
a Luz exemplifies dedication, passion, and expertise, and I am honored to
have been a part of this community’s legacy.

As we all make our respective transitions, my heart is full of gratitude to each
and every person I have had the honor of serving since arriving here. Thank
you for welcoming me into your lives and your families. Thank you for allowing
me to be a part of such a transformative period of your life. Thank you for
being a part of a beautiful and radical community that showcases what
women’s healthcare should look like for everyone.

Although my time at Dar a Luz has come to an end, I am always accessible at
swhisper128@gmail.com and would be thrilled to hear from you.

With Love,
Sedona

Other Ways To Donate to DAL!

Please consider donating to Dar a Luz to set us up for an impactful 2025!
Every donation has a profound impact on staff and clients alike and allows us
to continue offering our exceptional care to New Mexican families.

You can now donate via PayPal directly through our donor platform, Network for Good by clicking the button below.

We thank you for your support!

Other ways to donate:

• ACH Bank Transfer
• Stock or bond transfer, or charitable gift annuity (use this pdf)
• Donor-advised fund gift
• Cash or Check (info below)

Please make checks payable to:
Dar a Luz Birth & Health Center
7708 4th Street NW, Los Ranchos, NM 87107

You can designate us as your United Way charity, Benevity or name us as the beneficiary on your Smith’s rewards accounts. We are a community-owned birth center and a non-profit, so every penny counts!

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