Back

Midwifery

In spite of generations of suppression, Midwives continue to assist mothers and infants in birth

by Jo Davis

When asked to write a piece about midwives for the inaugural issue of Eve in Hand, the possibilities for which direction it should go were endless. There are many types of midwives who have different backgrounds and types of training; however the case is such that midwives, regardless of their training are so committed to normal birth and so mutable that often we strive to be whatever our clients need us to be. That aside, the more I thought about it, the more it became clear that the first piece of information that I should like to impart to the readers of Eve in Hand is one that speaks of a midwifeÕs mission to end the long standing trend of lies and violence that have become inherent in modern childbirth practices.

For generations women have been subjugated in the birth place by the medical profession, the entire crux of which started in the middle ages when male surgeons and physicians, influenced heavily by the early Catholic Church, were taught to believe that women were unclean and needed to be delivered of themselves during childbirth in order to ensure the her purity and that of her newborn child. Because women were not allowed in most cases to be educated in universities, younger midwives were trained by their elders, apprenticeship fashion. Midwives did not come from the nobility and as a result they were deemed ignorant and superstitious. Later midwives and healers were labeled witches and many were executed simply for their belief in normal birth and their desire to honor the sacred spiritual, emotional and sexual rite of passage of birth.

Today, midwifery is a struggling profession, not because of lack of training or professionalism, but because if women begin to believe in their ability to give birth normally, then the longstanding and very profitable business industry surrounding childbirth begins a dramatic decline. So today as yesterday, midwives are negatively singled out for honoring women. I have to impart to you the basest of truths, a secret long held by generations of strong and empowered women, but one that needs to be recognized by everyone.

Birth is safe. It is as safe as life gets and it is a very real, sacred sexual rite of passage. Giving birth is as safe as breathing, eating, or making love. Just like it is a longstanding rule that you never interfere with an animal when it is laboring, the same truth applies to the human animal. There are women who believe this, and every day a woman gives birth to her child in a calm and nurturing way, celebrating the very essence of womanhood and embracing her sexual nature.

In my experience in working with birthing women, I have seen lies and violence in every corner of the birth room. I have seen women lied to and given half truths regarding the risks of procedures. I have seen them given drugs or had procedures performed on them without their consent. I have even seen women threatened with being arrested or having their babies removed from their care for not submitting to the whims of hospital staff. I had the experience once of witnessing a woman having her legs forcibly pried open and held as she pushed her baby into the world. The senseless violence on women is overwhelming. This is not even addressing the lack of sensitivity when it comes to violence that is applied daily to our newborn infants and the trauma to the mother/baby bond as a result.

The roll of the midwife is ultimately to protect the integrity and the normalcy of birth, to be with woman, not to deliver her. The midwife's model of care is nurturing, evidence based, and low in risk and intervention. The medical model of care is not evidence based at all, but rather liability based. Practitioners will adopt certain interventions and policies in keeping with trends in malpractice suits. What is evident and unspoken is that intervention itself elevates the risk of complications in birth. Childbirth is a delicate dance between the body/mind/spirit of every woman. When we give over our voices and power in this very basest of senses we loose that instinctive memory.

This is alarming in the long term, but also very frightening in the short term. Women are experiencing more rates of postpartum depression and sexual dysfunction as a result of traumatic medical-ized birth experiences. Rates of child abuse soar while numbers of women breastfeeding are low. Women are being bullied into giving up our divine and sacred sexual power to bring forth life; not just have a baby, not to be delivered, but to cherish the wholesome experience of birth.

Who are we saving with these violent and barbaric practices? Not mothers and babies! The maternal mortality rate in the US ranks 14th world wide and the infant mortality rate ranks about 40th world wide. This means that there are 39 other industrialized countries that have better infant mortality rates than we do including Cuba and South Korea. The USA has the second worst newborn death rate (infant death within the first month) in the modern world. Many of the countries who outrank the US in this study, routinely use midwives for normal prenatal, birth and infant care and obstetricians are considered specialists and care for women who need more comprehensive care.

Ultimately it comes down to a matter of information, education and choice. One way to protect yourself from this kind of blatant disregard of women's rights and outright violence is to know what your rights and responsibilities are, and be informed about the choices available to you. Any midwife will be able to supply you with the information you need to make an educated and informed choice. I personally believe that standing up for women's rights and removing violence from the birth room is a giant step towards healing our violent society.

Back