My first experience with shoulder dystocia was thankfully informed by something I read in the newsletter/magazine that The Farm was publishing at the time (1976). In the article, Ina May explained what is now known as the Gaskin Maneuver. Read more…. Never, Never, Never Give Up
Photo provided by author
A midwife shares her experience of a velemenous birth and recounts the importance of trusting the process of birth, no matter how unusual it may be.
Photo provided by author
A surrogate mom to twins tells the tale of their quick, healthy homebirth.
Alongside inspiring and empowering stories of birth come negative stories of pain, scary interventions and unexpected outcomes. While it’s important to honor all stories, doula Rina Crane considers how we can all work “to help make the positive birth story the only one there is to tell.”
Jan Tritten reflects on second stage complications and the midwife’s role. Sometimes patient waiting, tempered with wisdom of when, and how, to act is the safest, healthiest way to bring new life into the world. Read more…. Waiting Can Be So Hard
Not only do upright positions work with gravity, offering numerous benefits to mother and baby, but they also have an interesting history. Layer uncovers the story behind their wane in popularity during the 18th century and relatively recent resurgence.
Read more…. An Overview of Upright Positions During Second Stage Labor
As she recounts the difficult birth experience that helped lead her to birth work, Zittle reconsiders the delineation of labor into stages and calls for a return to a more holistic assessment of the labor process.
Read more…. Allowing Birth to be Birth: Re-mystifying Second Stage
Photo from the author’s book, The Power of Women
It is easier to see how a woman’s culture affects her than to face how our culture affects us in relating to her. What if our cultures have moral differences? What if we identify with a birth culture that saves mothers and babies? Read more…. Culture within Culture
The author, who served as a missionary midwife among the urban poor of metro Manila for 20 years, recounts the highs and lows of working in a matriarchal society rife with superstitions and radically different standards of care for the rich and the poor. Read more…. Birth the Filipino Way
Photos from istockphoto.com
Cultural traditions can dictate special protocols for the postnatal woman and determine how much blood is “normal.” Author Michele Klein examines cultural ideas about postnatal blood in Asia, the Middle East and on the Internet.
A midwife and mother channels courage and strength to “let go” of the son she miscarries at home.
Read more…. Lavender and Letting Go: A Miscarriage Birth Story
The author sits down at a diner in Cairo, Georgia with local legend and beloved midwife Pinkie Norwood, who delivered 600 babies over the course of 30 years.
