Last week in the childbirth class I was teaching, we were talking about midwives who were arrested for serving the mothers they were hired to serve. These midwives were hired BY THE MOTHER to serve her and yet these midwives were arrested for various reasons, some as dramatic as the death of a baby and some for no particular reason or birth, but for the mere fact that they were “arrogant” enough to think they could serve a mom in labor.
What angers me so much in thinking about this is the very fact that it’s focused on the midwife…she was “practicing medicine without a license”, she was at the birth where a baby died, she was serving mothers and didn’t have the right “letters behind her name”. None of this addresses the fact that the MOTHER ASKED HER TO BE THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE! Midwives don’t just wander the streets, listening at doors for a woman in labor, barge in and demand to be the savior of that birth! NO, the midwife was asked by the MOM (and the family) to be there. The majority of the time, that midwife and that mom and family have spent many months and many hours getting to know each other, and trust each other, so that they begin to feel like “family,” so when labor begins, it feel s natural to call that midwife to be there and share that intimate moment with the family.
And yet, midwives are arrested for serving the very moms they were hired by. What is wrong with this picture?!
I love the creator of my school, Carla Hartley! She says over and over and over again in as many different and same ways as she possibly can, trying to help people understand one VERY SIMPLE FACT:
BIRTH IS ABOUT THE MOTHER (and her baby and family) NOT ABOUT THE MIDWIFE!
If we worked to protect the MOTHER’S RIGHT to birth where, with whom, and how she wants…we will then be protecting the midwife from prosecution. Because if the mother has the right to choose these things, you cannot prosecute the one serving the mother since the mother has the right to have her there! It IS that simple.
Alabama is on the right track! I look forward to the day when all states make this happen! They are working to pass a bill that states that the mom has the right to make the choice of who, where and how…if you want to know more, check out this FaceBook page: https://www.facebook.com/BirthFreedomNetwork?fref=ts
And for those of you who are curious as to which midwives have been arrested and/or prosecuted, check out this website: http://www.sistersinchains.org/our-sisters-in-chains.html.
What angers me so much in thinking about this is the very fact that it’s focused on the midwife…she was “practicing medicine without a license”, she was at the birth where a baby died, she was serving mothers and didn’t have the right “letters behind her name”. None of this addresses the fact that the MOTHER ASKED HER TO BE THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE! Midwives don’t just wander the streets, listening at doors for a woman in labor, barge in and demand to be the savior of that birth! NO, the midwife was asked by the MOM (and the family) to be there. The majority of the time, that midwife and that mom and family have spent many months and many hours getting to know each other, and trust each other, so that they begin to feel like “family,” so when labor begins, it feel s natural to call that midwife to be there and share that intimate moment with the family.
And yet, midwives are arrested for serving the very moms they were hired by. What is wrong with this picture?!
I love the creator of my school, Carla Hartley! She says over and over and over again in as many different and same ways as she possibly can, trying to help people understand one VERY SIMPLE FACT:
BIRTH IS ABOUT THE MOTHER (and her baby and family) NOT ABOUT THE MIDWIFE!
If we worked to protect the MOTHER’S RIGHT to birth where, with whom, and how she wants…we will then be protecting the midwife from prosecution. Because if the mother has the right to choose these things, you cannot prosecute the one serving the mother since the mother has the right to have her there! It IS that simple.
Alabama is on the right track! I look forward to the day when all states make this happen! They are working to pass a bill that states that the mom has the right to make the choice of who, where and how…if you want to know more, check out this FaceBook page: https://www.facebook.com/BirthFreedomNetwork?fref=ts
And for those of you who are curious as to which midwives have been arrested and/or prosecuted, check out this website: http://www.sistersinchains.org/our-sisters-in-chains.html.
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