Unfortunately, the role of obstetrics has never been to help women give birth. There is a big difference between the medical discipline we call “obstetrics” and something completely different, the art of midwifery. If we want to find safe alternatives to obstetrics, we must rediscover midwifery. To rediscover midwifery is the same as giving childbirth back to women. And imagine the future if surgical teams were at the service of the women and the midwives, instead of controlling them.” – Michel Odent, MD, French Obstetrician, 2006.

Midwifery’s Renaissance Utne Reader March / April 2007

By Marsden Wagner,

Born in the USA

Dismissed, disrespected, and hunted like witches, midwives are finally being recognized-but misunderstandings and myths endure.

 Because the midwives feared God, they did not do as commanded by the king.

-Exodus 1:17

A midwife is lectured at by committees, scolded by matrons, sworn at by surgeons, bullied by surgical dressers, talked flippantly to if middle aged and good humored, seduced if young.

-London Times, 1857
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