= Membership Article.
To browse by issue, click here
Learn what a Midwifery Today Online Membership can do for you. = Membership Article.
Pictured, Lisa Mark
This is part two of a two-part series on Amicus Birth Center in Trinidad. See part one in Midwifery Today Issue 84. We hope that this successful model can be used by others. Read more…. Amicus Maternity Center: Part II
After more than a decade of trying to bring down the number of c-sections, some obstetricians are now reversing themselves and promoting more of them. In fact, a growing number of American obstetricians now urge women to “choose” a cesarean even when there is no medical indication that they need one. Read more…. Choose & Lose: Promoting Cesareans and Other Invasive Interventions
I found out I was pregnant in June of ’94 and suddenly everything was different for me. It was as if I had a gun to my head; I had to get better RIGHT NOW. I was convinced that if I didn’t I was going to be the worst mother on the planet. – from Shakta’s story Read more…. Listening to Survivor Moms
Technology…. It has helped us to grow as a nation, but in what direction? Here in the US we think we are so great with our technological advancements…
Read more…. What Can You Do to Make Changes with Care Today?
Photo by Jacqueline Kelly
You may have run into them when “Googling” something on the Internet: small communities of bloggers with common interests and common goals. In a world where finding time to gather together has become increasingly difficult…
Photos provided by author
The interview with Lara was uncanny. The process of interviewing midwives was strange anyway, as I’d always been on the other side of the table, fielding the questions rather than asking them. I wasn’t even sure what I wanted to ask. It never occurred to me that I’d interview midwives—wouldn’t I just pick one of my colleagues?
My objective here is not to write anticipatory fiction, but to focus on one factor that will undoubtedly have an effect on the history of obstetric techniques and obstetric technology. Until now obstetric technology has thrived on a deep-rooted quasi-cultural lack of understanding of the basic needs of laboring women and of newborn babies.…
Photo by Yoal Desurmont
In the ancient Roman world childbirth was a dangerous event with uncertain outcomes for mother and child. Rates of infant and maternal mortality were high, as they are in modern communities without obstetric care.(1) Pain relief and general sanitation were lacking and traditional methods of childbirth were largely influenced by folklore and religious practices in an agrarian environment.
Read more…. Childbirth in the Ancient Roman World: The Origins of Midwifery
Photos provided by author
At 5 am the phone rings; a man with a hint of an accent says, “Hi, this is Amos, Lydia thought I should call to tell you we might be needing you to come by later today.”
Photo by Andrei Lazarev
Midwives know the courage that is necessary to take ourselves through changes, and we stand by the side of each woman as she goes through her own transformation. Of course, with any transformation comes that dreaded moment of fear: the fear of letting go, of disconnection, separation and detachment.
Maternal Child Health Aide Veronica helping Satta learn to carry things on her head
Photos provided by the author
The first time the traditional midwives excitedly asked us to go to town, I gave them a blank look, since the village of Pellie is a loosely clustered group of mud-walled, thatch-roofed huts.…
Lisa and Venus Mark
This is part one of a two-part series on Amicus Birth Center in Trinidad. See part two in Midwifery Today Issue 85. We hope that this successful model can be used by others. Read more…. Amicus Maternity Center: Part I
