• Last updated 11/1/12 by Cynthia Mosher

Excerpt from the TIME article “Midwife Mania? More U.S. Babies than Ever Are Delivered by Midwives,” June 25, 2012 In other developed nations, midwives are routinely tasked with bringing new life into the world. Not so in the U.S., where delivery is largely presided over by obstetricians. But a new study finds that midwives are getting busier, delivering 8.1% of the country’s babies in 2009 — a record high. Slice the data differently and the proportion rises even further. Consider vaginal births only — midwives don’t do cesarean... read more

• Last updated 11/1/12 by Cynthia Mosher

The Arizona Daily Star reported yesterday that Arizona intends to rethink its laws regarding midwifery and homebirth–laws that have barred women with previous c-sections, those carrying multiples, or those with breech babies from having midwife assisted homebirths. Sarah Macklin, a Tempe mother who could not deliver her second child with a midwife because of a previous C-section, helped lobby for the legislation. Macklin said there is no reason the state should regulate where a woman gives birth. “It’s important for us in the home-birth... read more

• Last updated 12/16/12 by Marcy Axness

It’s hard to think of a baby being violent or destructive, but the seeds of violence may be planted before a child is born, according to research at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. A study carried out there and reported last fall in the journal Aggression and Violent Behavior suggests that attention to health factors during prenatal development could prevent violence in later life. Citing recent research demonstrating a biological basis of crime, article author and Penn nursing assistant professor Jianghong Liu explains, “‘Biological’ does... read more

• Last updated 11/1/12 by Cynthia Mosher

“I am a Midwife Because…Part II” is the follow-up to the video released last week of the same name, featuring seven different midwives!  Learn how the experiences of being a research student, a Peace Corp volunteer, a New York City police officer, and a 7-year old child led seven American midwives into the profession of midwifery.  The midwives in Part II represent a spectrum of educational backgrounds and provide services to women in their families in a variety of settings including clinics, homes, hospitals and birth centers. Here is a glimpse of their... read more

• Last updated 11/2/12 by Cynthia Mosher

When you’ve finished watching this video view I am a Midwife Part II. Why do women (and yes, some men) become midwives? In the latest video from the new series, I am a Midwife, eight midwives with diverse backgrounds and practicing in different settings in the US and Canada–home, hospital and birth centers–share their stories of what led them to midwifery. For some, it started with their own birth; for others it was a deeply felt “calling,” a way to be part of the “solution” of improving birth outcomes and experiences for women and their babies.  Inspiring, moving and... read more

• Last updated 11/2/12 by Cynthia Mosher

Lamaze International Offers Five Tips for Expectant Dads to Prepare for Labor and Birth When it comes to childbirth, popular media often love to portray fathers as helpless and incompetent during labor and birth.  When labor starts, the mother-to-be calmly manages her contractions as the dad sets into a panic, leaving behind the pre-packed bag, taking a wrong turn to the hospital, or running the halls searching for a nurse. In reality, dads often play a critical role in supporting mothers during pregnancy and birth and advocating for safe care.  As... read more

• Last updated 11/2/12 by Cynthia Mosher

Thank you to Shawna for sharing her birth story and slideshow with us–and to her photographer Chanda Willams who took the images found below. You can see more of Chanda’s work on her website at Beauty of Birth.    On September 21st, 2009 I became a mother for the first time after a ‘glowing’ 39 weeks of pregnancy. My son came into the world in a birth pool, in a hospital, after 3 short pushes and 16 hours of labor. It wasn’t easy, but I would not have described it as painful. Intense pressure, that for a short time felt almost unbearable – but... read more

• Last updated 6/11/12 by Mothering Editorial

By Nancy Linnon Web Exclusive I always imagined birthing him in the middle of the night, a velvet midnight-blue kind of experience. Instead, he started into the world at 5:30 a.m., just as the sun drained the light from the moon, and I remember mostly pale shades: the beige interior of my car speeding to the Birth Center; the light peach on the birthing room wall; the egg white tile on the Jacuzzi tub; the ivory lace that hung over a set of French Doors opposite the bed. He is a fire sign, but I think of air on the day he was born. Early on a Wednesday morning, 10 days... read more

• Last updated 6/11/12 by Mothering Editorial

By Louise Rachel QuigleyWeb Exclusive The word “contraction” to describe the working of the uterus during labor has bothered me for a long time. True, it is technically correct: like any other muscle, the uterus bunches itself tight, makes its length shorter, contracts itself in that sense, to do the work of pulling the cervix open. But the connotations of the word “contract” create precisely the wrong psychological effect. Before becoming a childbirth educator, I earned a doctorate in English; I have taught writing at the college level; I am a poet. Many times I... read more

• Last updated 11/2/12 by Cynthia Mosher

Living with failure I shall never know whether within such a peaceful, familiar environment we would ever have achieved a natural birth; I can only say the chances would have been much higher. Instead, I missed the birth of my son and the first hours of his life. I still carry within me unresolved birth trauma, which at unguarded moments suddenly pulls at my heart strings, with it a feeling of inadequacy when I hear of natural birth or see it on the TV. I live with this failure, not helped by some women who believe you cannot truly bond with... read more