Midwife Connection

by Emily Hoger, SNM The practice of midwifery is inherently political. As midwives, we have many constraints on our time, but it is vitally important that we become and remain informed and active in the politics of our profession. Political activism for the advancement of midwifery is just as important as clinical skills and knowledge. We have made much progress as a profession, but must continue to remain actively involved so we can shape the future of midwifery, broaden our scope, and achieve...

by Kimla McDonald, CNM, Guest Blogger One day, I may be a grandmother. I may see one of my children become a parent. If it is my daughter, I may want to go with her to her prenatal visits, to see her face as she hears the baby’s heartbeat for the first time, and to remember how it was when she was still an unknown desired presence inside of my body. If invited, or implored, I might offer advice or information. Because I know that if I don’t, there are 5000 pregnant women out there on a preg...

by Noreen Prokuski, CNM The six of us jump into our 4x4 trucks for a bone-rattling, bumper-car ride inching up the rocky, twisting pathways leading to the hilltop village of Vipecbalam in the western highlands of Guatemala. Our local driver’s hands are confident on the wheel winding us back and forth through the mountain curves. The truck becomes silent as we hang on tight, awed by the scene. In a few hours we are in the village, and somehow the term “remote” just doesn’t cover it. I think we...

Stephanie Assisi, 32, knew since college that when the time came, she’d want to try for a natural, drug-free birth with a midwife in attendance. But when Assisi attended natural childbirth classes, she found the videos outdated. “The material we watched in class was from the seventies and eighties, maybe early eighties if we were lucky,” she laughs. “I just felt like the [films] were not something that would help convince the modern woman that she wanted to go this route. It was a totally diffe...

by Angeline Fujioka, CNM, ACNM Technical Advisor, Department of Global Outreach Pervasive and dangerously silent human rights violations against women often occur during one of the most vulnerable times in a woman’s life: childbirth. Around the world this violation continues, irrespective of socio-economic boundaries, education levels of providers, religious and cultural values, and rural or urban borders. Many women have reported being yelled at, neglected, humiliated, beaten, slapped an...