btw, I warned you that my posts were going to lose their watered-downness :))
Also called unlicensed midwives or laymidwives.
My dear friend, Zi, "The reason they are called outlaws or lay midwives.. is because in most states, you cannot be a midwife without becoming a nurse, or even doctor; and technically illegal to practice midwifery without the medical board granting you the title. However, many of us mothers have studied, and experienced birth. We know the stages, the risks, etc... and have plenty to share, educate, and officiate birth experiences for other mothers. Obviously I'm keeping this extremely simple. There's so many facets to these situations, and these midwives have been arrested, I'm sure."
Me again: After studying extensively for my free birth, I thought I could be a midwife (albeit the one challenging lots of assumptions about interventions and complications). I believe very strongly in empowering women about their birth (hence why I started this subgroup). I have a dear friend who just didn't want to go through another c-section and tried desperately to find a midwife who would support her vba2c and couldn't
find one (now I understand that they are illegal), and resigned herself to another c-section, a violation of her body and her heart and soul!!! In the meantime, I'm studying up for my unassisted birth and reading about the importance of birth as a rite of passage and such!! It was such a sad contrast, because she was so supportive of me and felt so helpless in her own situation. If she had wanted another c- section, it would have been easier for me to understand. People discount unassisted birth as a viable option, and they discount an unlicensed midwife as a viable option, and these are two of the most mother-oriented options out there. Unlicensed midwives are the key to having the assistance one may feel more comfortable with and also birth-oriented atmosphere (rather than a medical-oriented one). Unlicensed midwives provide services for women who the medical society has deemed are too risky to be allowed to home birth (the last part of that sentence is SO loaded with crap!!), like women who have had c- sections or are otherwise deemed high-risk. Some of those "high risk" conditions are a load of medical malarky. I have a friend who is overweight and therefore considered high risk and had to go through a doctor because a birth center wasn't allowed to help her. I don't know how competent my friend felt about her body's ability to birth regardless of her weight, but I have seen unassisted birth videos of large women birthing just fine, and I have been a big mama who has always birthed just fine (a healthy 260 at all 3 of my births). People correlate weight with health, which isnt true, they use bunk statistics to equate c-sections with complications for vaginal birth -- I am more afraid of complications (including ones we may not know about yet) from an unnatural extraction of my child from my body!!! Not to mention the medicalization of various birth paths (which they call complications and birth-oriented folks call variations) and after- birth situations. Doctors view birth as a biological thing to be managed and easily manipulated, but birth is so much more. A midwife is a first step away from that, but a licensed midwife is bound by that same system, and it seems that an unlicensed midwife (someone trained in the art of birth and not distorted by the medical model of pregnancy and birth) may be an even closer step toward a mother and baby-oriented birth. Although I am all about unassisted childbirth, I understand that it is just not for some women for various reasons (they are unable to cleanse themselves of the stuff our society is laden with concerning birth, or maybe they sense they will need assistance because they ARE so tuned-in), and I think unlicensed midwives play a perfect part of this here :))
I just love the term outlaw midwife. Laymidwife sounds inexperienced to me, unlicensed sounds like incomplete to me, but outlaw midwife sounds like a full midwife bucking the system -- I imagine her like a Robin Hood, appearing to help bring a child into the world and disappearing guns blazing into the dark of the night. Or maybe she is a superhero, swooping in to rescue in a manner that the law is not capable of, with a milder-mannered law-abiding alter-ego :)) Outlaw midwife ROCKS!!!! Someone needs to make a comic of her adventures, like Hathor the Cowgoddess :))))))
Oh, and one more thing... I am going to unschool the crap out of miwivery (learn on my own), and I am going to find my niche in the birthing community as a way to support mamas and babies, and I am going to come armed with Naomi Aldort articles about the importance of trusting the self and the baby, and I am going to do more than just birth, like offer resources for gentle parenting and trust-centered living and self and life design, and omg..... I think I found my flow. I think I found my mojo I think I found my path. Inclusive of everything I love and value, everything, everything, everything! OMG!
This was me during my free birth:
1 comment:
Awesome post. It is a parent's right to have a baby where ever and with whomever they want! There are more than you would think on the same page. Check out the Trust Birth movement.
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