• Created on 5/18/12 by Cynthia Mosher

  “It’s not acceptable that African-American women and babies, regardless of their economic and educational backgrounds still have a 3-4 times greater chance of dying in childbirth (and postpartum) than their white counterparts.” “It’s not acceptable that women of every race and every ethnicity who are marginalized and vulnerable and poor do not have access to good care, affordable care and satisfying care.” –Geradine Simkins, CNM, MSN, DEM and President and Interim Executive Director of the Midwives Alliance of North America Why do more... read more

• Created on 5/16/12 by Cynthia Mosher

Thank you to Sarah Kraft, President of Midwife International, for this guest post.   Even in the 21st century, a woman might still find herself walking alone in the dark left to deliver her baby unassisted on the side of a road. It is difficult to fathom, and yet it happens frequently. For every 31 mothers in sub-Saharan Africa, 1 will die from a pregnancy-related cause, compared with 1 in every 4,300 mothers in developed regions. But there is a solution to these horrific realities and statistics–midwives. A recent study by the United... read more

• Created on 5/16/12 by Cynthia Mosher

A new plan to reduce postpartum depression in the UK will grant every pregnant woman a midwife, The Guardian reported yesterday. …the government has pledged to improve maternity care by ensuring women have one named midwife to oversee their care during pregnancy and after they have their baby, making sure every women has one-to-one midwife care and giving parents-to-be the choice over where and how they give birth. The NHS will also be judged on how well it looks after parents who have miscarried, suffered a stillbirth or cot death, with... read more

• Created on 5/11/12 by Cynthia Mosher

In Midwives Know Birth Matters twelve different midwives, practicing in all settings, speak about the importance of birth for babies, mothers and birth partners.  The quality care midwives provide can make all the difference in facilitating a safe, supportive and satisfying experience.  Midwives know how we are born and how a woman becomes a mother matters! I am a Midwife is a new online video series about midwives and what they do.  A new video will be released weekly throughout May and June.  Subscribe to I am a Midwife on Youtube From the... read more

• Created on 5/10/12 by Cynthia Mosher

The "Woman" in Woman in the Moon Films I’m a filmmaker, educator, activist and mother.  My work with Woman in the Moon Films centers on social change around birth options–from “the local” and my own backyard to the national and global.  I am passionate about birth, women, mothers and midwives. Here’s why I do what I do: In December of 2004 I had a homebirth with my son in an antique farmhouse in a rural community in mid-coast Maine.   My professional midwives, Donna Broderick and Ellie Daniels, both CPMs with Morningstar Midwifery lived... read more

• Created on 5/4/12 by Cynthia Mosher

The debut video from I am a Midwife, the new free online video series from Midwives Alliance of North America all about midwives and what they do! In Midwifery Care:  What’s in it for Women? eight different “real life” midwives describe the safe, supportive and satisfying care that midwives in all settings–home, hospital and birth center–provide to women and their families. To see more videos in this free series, subscribe to IAAM on Youtube And show some “Like” at Midwives Alliance Facebook Co-produced by MANA and Woman in the Moon... read more

• Created on 4/15/12 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

• Created on 4/11/12 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

• Created on 4/9/12 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

• Created on 4/2/12 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