Midwifery and a women's right to choose her care provider during pregnancy and beyond is being threatened every day in California. Please read on...
This is a women's issue, a global issue
How has a midwife impacted your life?BY JENNIFER STOVER
In many cultures around the world, midwives are revered members of the community. Working
autonomously, they are respected as important health care practitioners. Sadly, this is not the case in the United States. As the male-dominated medical profession rose in power, it systematically stamped out women being cared for by women. First they didn’t allow women access to medical schools, and then came a propaganda campaign slandering midwives and the profession—essentially wiping midwifery care off the United States map.
autonomously, they are respected as important health care practitioners. Sadly, this is not the case in the United States. As the male-dominated medical profession rose in power, it systematically stamped out women being cared for by women. First they didn’t allow women access to medical schools, and then came a propaganda campaign slandering midwives and the profession—essentially wiping midwifery care off the United States map.
What they failed to realize is
that women will always gravitate toward women during the intensity of
the birth process. At this vulnerable time, they yearn for an intangible
quality of caring that a woman provides. This is true all around the
world. Also, they hadn’t understood that women are called to midwifery
in much the same way as a religious calling. Hearing the call, they
began to serve the rural and urban poor in inner-city slums and the
mountains of Kentucky. Some of these women went to nursing school and
began the Association of Certified Nurse Midwives. In order to practice
legally, they gave up their autonomy and agreed to practice under the
supervision of doctors. SLO’s first Certified Nurse Midwives (CNMs)
began practicing in the early ’80s at General Hospital:
Rhea Liama, Marilyn Rice, Rosanna Meyers, and Pennie Hall. At times,
they caught as many as 100 babies a month!
Hearing the call, they began
to support birthing women in their hippie communes or faith-based
communities, risking imprisonment. In our community, some of these early
rebels were Marianne Doshi, Cynthia Muther, Toni Torrey, Surja Johnson,
Fawn Gilbride, and Harvest Steadman. Some of the women who heard the
call spearheaded the political fight to legalize direct entry midwives
or non-nurse midwives. Los Osos resident Sue O’Connor was chairwoman of
the California Association of Midwives during this struggle. Finally, in
1993, the California Association of Midwives got legislation passed in
California, which created a path to legalization. In 1996, a SLO County
midwife, Brenda Ramler, was in the first group of women to sit for the
exam and became the eighth woman licensed to practice midwifery in the
state of California. These legal midwives are still fighting. They are
fighting to receive reimbursement for their services from the insurance
industry for their clients. Many are unable to purchase the life-saving
tools of their trade, such as sutures, anti-hemorrhagic medication, or antibiotics. They can’t order life-saving tests such as blood work
or prenatal ultra sounds. Because of malpractice fears, most doctors are
unwilling to be connected in any professional way with them, and yet
the regulations call for doctor “supervision.” Recently, Edana Hall of
Holistic Midwifery Care traveled to Sacramento to attend a California
Medical Board Interested Parties Workshop where all of these issues were discussed. And so the fight for recognition and autonomy goes on.
This is a women’s issue. This
is a trade infringement issue. This is an individual’s rights issue.
This is an American issue, the freedom to pursue life, liberty, and
happiness. This is a world health issue. The World Health Organization’s
Millennium Development Goals call for 350,000 more midwives worldwide
as an essential part of the solution to lowering the infant and maternal
mortality rate around the globe.
Since 1991, from the Sudan to
Switzerland, Haiti to Afghanistan, May 5 has been celebrated as the
International Day of the Midwife. Now, for the first time in San Luis
Obispo history, we will celebrate this important day. The international
theme for 2012’s celebration is Midwives Save Lives. In this spirit, the
Birth & Baby Resource Network has united with these providers of
healthy births: Community Health Centers, French Family Birthing Center,
Sierra Vista Birth Center, and General Hospital and Family Care Clinics
Charitable Foundation. The goal is to create a real and virtual
interactive midwifery project highlighting the midwives of our
community, past and present.
Did you know that more than 40
midwives have served the women and families of this county? The
midwives will gather during the Birth and Baby Fair in Mission Plaza’s
amphitheater at 10:30 a.m. on May 5, where we will pay them the respect
they have earned for 40 years of quality care. At the Birth and Baby
Resource Network’s midwifery booth, families can register their babies’
names for the Midwifery Tree art installation, write thank-you cards, or
have photos taken with their midwives. They can learn about the history
of midwifery, and the skills the modern midwife has for guiding moms
and babies safely through pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period—or
participate in an oral history project answering the question, “How has
a midwife impacted your life?” The Midwifery Tree will continue to grow
throughout the day with each baby in this county born into the hands of
a midwife being represented by a leaf on the tree. To get started, go
to bbrn.org.
