Short Introduction

I have been a midwife for 28 years assisting women throughout their pregnancies and with giving birth both in and out of hospital. This blog is an attempt to share with you some of the many things I have learned from my patients and perhaps to provide stories of courage, grief, amusement or just slices of my everyday life as a midwife that have left an impression on me. No doubt many will be opinionated but that said I hope they will be of interest not only to pregnant women and those preparing for childbirth but to women of all ages and I hope will give readers some insight into the constant miracle of birth that is all around us and that we all have some part of whether we are fathers, mothers, grandparents, brothers or sisters.

Currently I work for a large organization seeing somewhere from 20-25 pregnant women per day in my office and on hospital days actually assisting anywhere between two to five babies into the world. I have always felt my role as a midwife was observer and protector rather than savior. I work to prevent interference in the natural process of birth, to allow families to achieve the unique birth experience they desire and hopefully to inspire and involve them in the powerful energy that comes from doing an extraordinary task well.

I have few preconceived notions about the best way for women in general to give birth. I strive to see each of the families I interact with as individuals who will approach this experience in their own way. I do have well grounded opinions on what works and what doesn’t in particular birth situations and will use this knowledge to help families understand how the choices they make both in pregnancy and during labor or delivery will directly effect their child’s birth.

Because I will be sharing actual patient stories I will remain anonymous and change all names and occasionally shade events. Any resemblance to actual persons is purely a figment of the reader’s imagination and/or the fault of the storyteller. I look forward to any comments you may have complimentarily or critical. After so many years or even just a long day at the end of many delivery beds it is easy to lose the initial excitement and awe that originally drew me to this profession. Through this writing I hope to not only give you an insight into the profession of the modern midwife but to reflect myself on all I love about what I do.