International Day of the Midwife

International Day of the Midwife is approaching on May 5th and I encourage you to check out the free online conference offering a day-long roster of speakers and events around this year's theme, The World Needs Midwives Today More Than Ever!

This is so incredibly true. I listened to a birth story yesterday that really made me think about the irreplaceable value of skilled midwifery care. Truly, there is no substitute for it---while, yes, some women also need OB care, I really think all women deserve midwifery care (so, even those high-women who need to see OBs or who need to have cesareans, they still deserve a midwife too!)

On a related note, an online friend/colleague of mine, Kelli Haywood, just wrote a great article about the closing of rural maternity wards and made a clear case for why we need more midwives (now more than ever!).

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Molly
CfM Blogger

Book Review: Home/Birth: a poemic

Book Review: Home/Birth: a poemic
By Arielle Greenberg and Rachel Zucker
1913 Press, 2011
ISBN 978-0-9779351-7-8
208 pages, softcover, $11
http://www.1913press.org

http://www.facebook.com/pages/HomeBirth-A-Poemic/

Reviewed by Molly Remer, MSW, ICCE, CCCE
http://talkbirth.wordpress.com

Co-authored by a pair of long-time friends, the “poemic” book Home/Birth reads as if you are eavesdropping on a lengthy, juicy, engaging, thought-provoking conversation about homebirth, birth in America, maternity care, and feminism. The book has a lyric, narrative, stream of consciousness format linked together with segments of poetry.

The text does not differentiate between the two speakers/writers, though through the “call and response,” back-and-forth exchange between the two authors, you quickly begin to recognize two distinct voices (as well as other fragments from birth books, bumper stickers, midwives, etc.).

The book was written during Arielle’s second pregnancy, which ends in the stillbirth of her baby boy. Arielle had one prior homebirth and one subsequent homebirth. Rachel had two hospital births and a homebirth prior to the writing of the book.

While the style in which it is written takes some time to get used to, once you tune in to its rhythm, Home/Birth is a unique and fascinating journey. Because it is so distinctive, I find it difficult to describe in writing—you need to make sure to read it for yourself!

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Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book for review purposes.