• Last updated 11/9/12 by Melanie Mayo

“Being pregnant and giving birth are like crossing a narrow bridge. People can accompany you to the bridge. They can greet you on the other side, but you must walk that bridge alone.” ~African Proverb~ * * * * The word midwife literally means, “With woman” and that is what I am. I spend my days sitting with women at one of the most pivotal moments in their lives. Married or single, 17 or 35 years old, Balinese or Australian, Christian or Muslim, HIV positive or... read more

• Last updated 4/19/12 by Mothering Editorial

Get your home ready for the new baby by preparing a simple altar as a powerful symbol for your birth. Choose a place on a dresser, a windowsill, or a low table. Cover the area with a beautiful cloth or leave it bare. Add some candles and incense. Look for some interesting rocks when you go for a walk. Maybe you have some seashells you’ve collected in the past. Select items that make you feel good and strong. Or choose objects that are meaningful to you in a religious or spiritual way. Include a small fountain, photos of beloved ancestors and... read more

• Last updated 11/9/12 by Melanie Mayo

Thank you to Jennifer Margulis for this update on last week’s coverage of Ireena Keeslar, the Indiana midwife who was arrested for practicing midwifery. Read the full post on Jennifer’s blog. (April 13, 2012) Ireena Keeslar, 49, a certified professional midwife (CPM) announced today that she will no longer attend homebirths in Indiana. In Indiana it is a felony for certified professional midwives, like Keeslar, to attend homebirths. “We have defined the delivery of babies as the practice of medicine,” said Representative Tim Brown, M.D.,... read more

• Last updated 11/9/12 by Melanie Mayo

Lisa Barrett and Gloria Lemay I’m excited looking forward to Sarah Buckley’s keynote talk this morning here in Nashville, about oxytocin, or as she calls it, “Liquid Love.” It’s been fun getting here a little early (arrived Tuesday evening to teach my all-day pre-conference workshop yesterday based on my book Parenting for Peace)… and meeting lots of new and fabulous folks from the worldwide field of midwifery. Have already heard a few chilling tales worthy of Orwell of the harassment that can be visited upon birth attendants who actually trust... read more

• Last updated 11/9/12 by Melanie Mayo

I’d like to introduce this blog by sharing with you a personal story, of how my son came into the world. Pregnancy and birth is where the amazing, life-changing journey of parenthood began for me. It also sowed the seeds of my writing. It is Ewan who continually reminds me to follow my instincts, who helps me to parent more naturally. My pregnancy and early labour were natural and gentle, with few medical interventions. Sadly, Ewan was eventually delivered by emergency caesarean section. As traumatic as this was, we were also relieved he was born a... read more

• Last updated 11/9/12 by Melanie Mayo

ABC News reported yesterday that Michael Hawthorne, a New Jersey truck driver and the son/grandson of midwives, just helped deliver his third baby on the side of the road. With blaring car horns in the background, and frantic fathers desperately trying to reach 911, Hawthorne said he tries to remain calm for the births, just how his grandmother and mother taught him. Not only has Hawthorne helped three moms in emergency delivery situations–a random occurrence so common in his life that he now carries around a birth kit–he has also helped save a... read more

• Last updated 10/23/12 by Melanie Mayo

She’s curled up on the couch, waiting, a ball of baby and emotions. A scrambled pile of books on pregnancy, labor, baby names, breastfeeding…not one more word can be absorbed. The birth supplies are loaded in a laundry basket, ready for action. The freezer is filled with meals, the car seat installed, the camera charged. It’s time to hurry up and wait. Not a comfortable place to be, but wholly necessary. The last days of pregnancy— sometimes stretching to agonizing weeks—are a distinct place, time, event, stage. It is a time of in between. Neither here nor... read more

• Last updated 4/4/12 by Mothering Editorial

Buy Buy Baby by Jessica Dur January 20, 2012 When I was 18, I couldn't wait to leave my native Lafayette, in Louisiana, for any place that didn't reek of fried fish and angry protests against Martin Luther King Jr Day. My extended family, none of whom has ventured further than Dallas or Orlando, were both baffled and charmed by my decision to go to college in the snowy pines of Vermont. Surely, they assumed, I'd miss our community of cousins and aunts, and move back home some day. But when the time came to thaw out, I headed even further away—to Sonoma County,... read more

• Last updated 11/10/12 by Cynthia Mosher

Thank you to Jennifer Margulis for this excerpt. Read the full story here.  When a car pulled up to her house a little after 10 a.m. on Saturday, March 31st, Ireena Keeslar was still in her pajamas. Ireena and her husband, who keep the Sabbath from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday, were just finishing up a late breakfast. They weren’t expecting any visitors. They certainly weren’t expecting the police. But Keeslar, who is 49 years old and lives in Howe, Indiana, was put into handcuffs and taken to jail. She was arrested for... read more

• Last updated 4/1/12 by Mothering Editorial

By Beth OsnesIssue 138 - September/October 2007 We women have evolved a rather timid ceremony for preparing our fellow females for motherhood: the baby shower. The gifts provide some of the clothing and accessories a new mother is likely to need, but the shower usually shies away from the genuine majesty of this next step in a woman's life. With no malicious intent, most baby showers propagate a commercialism that belittles and "cute-sifies" the experience of motherhood and birth. A true ceremony is a vessel for the swelling feelings that surround a life passage. It... read more