= Membership Article.
To browse by issue, click here
Photo by Tim Mossholder
Midwifery and Childbirth News – Issue 142
Tricks of the Trade – Issue 142 – Asynclitic Presentation, Prolonged Labor, Using the Placenta for Hemorrhage, Helpful Herbal Recipes
Photo from editorial issue #119
The face of Midwifery Today is changing. I am retiring. Midwifery Today (MT) needs to live on, so I have found the ideal midwife-visionary to carry her into the next years: Lois Wilson. You can read a bit of her story here. Read more…. From the Editor: Gratitude for Midwifery Today
Illustration provided by author
In the UK, in 1960, the Peel Report suggested a goal of 100% hospital deliveries, without any evidence whatsoever that this would improve outcomes.
Lecture for couples & pregnant women.
Photos provided by author
Read about Gentle Birth Education Centre in Nigeria and their work with homebirth.
Photo by Jason Leung
Globally, there is the problem of the over-medicalization of childbirth, but there is also the problem of the under-utilization of lifesaving care, and marginalized people often suffer needlessly from lack, rather than overuse, of health care during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum recovery. This quote from Miller et al. Read more…. Become an Implementing Partner of the International Childbirth Initiative: A Model for Safety and Respect in Childbirth that Works in Every Setting, Everywhere in the World
Photo by Wes Hicks
I had been warned of the “empty nest syndrome” that happens when a couple’s youngest child is old enough to leave the nest. No one ever warned me that at least 15 years before that, I would be devastated by the “empty breast syndrome.”
Photo by jeshhots.com
The term “medicalization” refers to the process in which conditions and behaviors are labeled and treated as medical issues. Medicalized birth came about in the early 1900s with advances in pain relief, antiseptic and aseptic surgical practices, and surgical techniques and outcomes, alongside a rapid rise in people’s faith in scientific medicine. Read more…. The Medicalization of Midwifery and Birth
Photo by Matt Hardy
Midwifery today readers must realize that we are at the dawn of a radically new understanding of human evolution and human nature. The main reason is that we are now in a position to consider the evolution of Homo and the evolution of our planet—particularly the enormous fluctuations of sea levels—as two inseparable topics. Furthermore, we are currently giving increased importance to fast-developing disciplines such as genetics and virology. My objective is to popularize the “marine chimpanzee concept” and to classify “the aquatic ape theory” in the framework of the history of sciences.
Read more…. Are Midwifery Today Readers Marine Chimps or Aquatic Apes?
Photo by Vitor Monthay
At the beginning of the pandemic, a woman I know well—I’ll call her Jackie—became pregnant at age 30. Jackie has a mild intellectual disability, but she is high functioning, verbal, and able to make her own medical decisions—which was recognized legally by the court in her county when she was younger. Read more…. When Traditional Western Medicine Breaks Faith
Photos Provided by Author
Will there be birth beyond medicalization? If so, for whom?
Photo by Omar Lopez
In 2019, I traveled to Lima, Peru, to collect interviews for my book about childbirth around the world through a holistic perspective. While I was there, I met a midwife named Angela Brocker, who was originally from Germany but had moved to Peru and become a doctor and a midwife. She told me about childbirth in Lima, Peru.
