Midwifery Today Issue 147

International Midwifery/Brought to Earth by Birth

by Marion Toepke McLean September 17, 2023

“Brought to earth by birth.” This somewhat enigmatic counterculture midwifery saying is logical and meaningful. And unifying, in a way. All of us, around the world and in so many situations, are developed in the womb, grow during the months of pregnancy, and then the process of birth takes place. This is the same among the world’s many cultures and ways of living.

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Photo by Cristina Gottardi

Media Reviews – Issue 147

by Joy Hearn September 17, 2023

Media Reviews – Issue 147 | Uterus: A New Perspective by Jessica M. Koren. 2016 – The Body Keeps The Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma, by Bessel Van der Kolk – A Woman of Firsts: The Midwife Who Changed the World by Edna Adan Ismail Read more…. Media Reviews – Issue 147

Photo by Md Mahdi

Midwifery and Childbirth News – Issue 147

by Editorial September 17, 2023

Midwifery and Childbirth News – Issue 147 | Another Reason to Sniff a Newborn – FDA Approves First Oral Treatment for Postpartum Depression – Addressing Obstetrical Violence – PAHO: Bridging the Cultural Gap Between Traditional Midwives and Western Medicine – Newborn Cells Programmed for Skin Colonization Read more…. Midwifery and Childbirth News – Issue 147

Tricks of the Trade – Issue 147

by Editorial September 17, 2023

Tricks of the Trade – Issue 147 | Traditional Use of a Rebozo – Prodromal Labor – On Breech Babies – Natural Remedies

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Photo by Caroline Brown

Wisdom of the Midwives – Issue 147

by Editorial September 17, 2023

Wisdom of the Midwives | On Gratitude – Thoughts about Labor Pain – Talking About Postpartum Sexuality with Clients – Interventions – Delayed Cord Cutting Read more…. Wisdom of the Midwives – Issue 147

My 37-Year Midwifery Today Voyage

by Jan Tritten September 17, 2023

I am humbled by this life God gave me to lead Midwifery Today. I have had the privilege of traveling to and putting on conferences in 20 different countries—attending, planning, and carrying out 86 conferences. I have also had the honor of planning, writing for, and helping produce 147 magazines, with a fantastic staff and excellent writers. It has been a long and winding road through efforts to change midwifery and birth. I am humbled by the joy, mostly, of getting to be the mother of Midwifery Today. Read more…. My 37-Year Midwifery Today Voyage

Photos provided by author

Kneeling before the Elders

by Sister MorningStar September 9, 2023

Doña Cuca and I sat next to each other looking down at the ground. She was sad. I was too. She spoke of the changes happening in her village around birth. The wimyn were trusting the hospital more than the use of rebozo and sobada (1). The young ones were not interested in a midwife path. She felt the feeling of disappearance. The dissolving of a life she had lived and loved. I told her the loss had already happened for my people and in my land. We sat together. Sad about it all. Read more…. Kneeling before the Elders

Photo by Caroline Brown

Wonders of Third Stage Labor: The Placenta

by Jane Beal September 9, 2023

When I was sixteen, I attended my first birth: the birth of my baby brother, David. After he was born, my mama delivered the placenta, which was placed in a bowl. My father brought me over to look at it, and he normalized the experience of third stage by observing to me how beautiful the placenta was: “Doesn’t it look like glazed clay?” It did look that way: purplish-red and shining. The future midwife in me was fascinated. Read more…. Wonders of Third Stage Labor: The Placenta

Photo by Fidel Fernando

Prenatal Care or Prenatal Scare?

by Gloria Lemay August 27, 2023

Women in Australia ask each other “Who are you going to for Prenatal Scare?” Sadly, that could be said in North America, too. Stressed practitioners unloading their personal fears on pregnant women is a common scenario all over the world.

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Photo by Willian Justen de Vasconcellos

Wachakuy Birth Program

by Cynthia Ingar August 27, 2023

Hampi Warmi Initiative (Peru project) includes the offering of the “Wachakuy: Sacred Birth Way” to international birthworkers and aspiring midwives, doulas, and birthkeepers to experience a unique entrance to the Andean ancestral teachings around birth, midwifery, and BirthGuardianship around pregnancy, the sacred Initiation of birth and the postpartum.

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The Evolved Nest: What We Share with the Animal World

by Darcia Narvaez and G.A. Bradshaw August 12, 2023

Across the animal world, we observe shared practices of welcoming and nurturing the young (Narvaez and Bradshaw 2023). Sometimes the offspring is encased in a shell, sometimes in the uterus, but in every case the offspring is held in a body of love—first from mother, then from the kind attention of others who move in to care and guide the newborn—father, grandmother, sibling, midwife.

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Photo by Ian Penwell

Mercy In Action—Still Training Global Midwives After All These Years!

by Vicki Penwell August 12, 2023

The ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus said that you can’t step in the same river twice. If he were alive today and had an understanding of midwifery education, he would probably say the same about Mercy In Action’s midwife training programs. I first wrote for Midwifery Today 32 years ago, an article titled Midwifery Education: A Global Perspective (Midwifery Today Issue 20, 1991.)