Midwifery

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Midwifery
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The Word Itself

• Midwife
• translated to mean with woman in the English
  language
• translated sage femme or a wise woman in French
• literally meaning a woman who assists women in
  childbirth

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The Facts..

• Birth of Midwifery
• Midwifery in the United States
• The Midwife Controversy
• The Mother of Modern Midwifery

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The Birth of Midwifery
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What History has to Say...

• There are several verses in the bible which tell
  of two Hebrew midwives
• Exodus 115-22
• Genesis 3517 3828
• Practices have also been found in Papyri and
  ancient Hindu records

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• In early Roman Greek times, midwifes were
  caregivers to women during their monthly cycle
• The only qualifications were to have given birth
  yourself
• In some cultures these qualifications still exist
  today
• Midwives used herbs and potions routinely in
  place of the modern day medicine

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• In 1928, the first professional organization for
  nurse-midwives began with establishment of the
  American Association of Nurse-Midwives
• 1955 the American College of Nurse-Midwifery was
  chartered
• Between the 1970-1980s midwifery began to grow
  rapidly

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Midwifery in the United States
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• Where in the United States
• Native American Tribes
• Colonial America
• Ferry boats to the Colony of Massachusetts
• Mayflower
• Who in the United States
• Brigit Lee Fuller (3 births on Mayflower)
• Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
• Dr. William Shippman Jr. (Private tutor)

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The Midwife Controversy
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• The midwifery controversy lasted from the end of
  the 19th century through the first two decades of
  the following century
• The neonatal/maternal outcomes between the births
  attended by physicians and midwives was coming
  under scrutiny by Obstetricians
• Maternal and neonatal deaths were greater for
  those under the care of midwives, these were
  often poor women who couldnt afford doctors

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The Solution.

• Educate midwives in order to raise the level of
  practice to the accepted mainstream
• Abolish midwives for the sake of the health of
  the country
• Midwifery of untold centuries was almost
  eradicated in the United States in less than
  three decades by restrictive legislation and an
  effective public campaigns.

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The Mother of Modern Midwifery
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Ina May Gaskin...

• Born in Marshalltown, Iowa, as Ina May Middletown
• Grew up being a tom-boy and wrestling her
  brothers
• Although she thoroughly interested in
  child-birth, she had the ambition to be a
  engineer
• Birth just always fascinated me, As a
  teenager, I could tell you every detail of the
  birth in the historical romances I read

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• After graduating from High School in 1958 and
  being denied the right to study a mans subject
  decided to turn her academic career into an
  English major
• After being married at the age of 19, Gaskin
  obtained her degree from the University of Iowa
  then joined the Peace Corps with her husband
• After teaching English in Malaysia, Gaskin
  returned to obtain her masters in English from
  Northern Illinois University

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• Gaskin gave birth to her first child under the
  care of an obstetrician
• Gaskin remembers the experience of the birth of
  her first child to be very traumatic
• Gaskin then moved to California to become a
  hippie and joined a caravan
• With no money and a pregnant Ina May on the
  caravan, she gave birth to baby boy, the first of
  many babys to be born on the caravan

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• From then on, Ina May attended all the births
  within the group, a total of 11 babies born
• The caravan finally made a home in Tennessee and
  called The Farm
• Ina May and several other women, established an
  on-site midwifery clinic and many mothers
  requested their presence at the births

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Gaskin Today...

• Ina May still lives on the Farm in Tennessee and
  enjoys spending time with her granddaughter
• Gaskins message she wants to get out is that
  birth is normal
• As a culture we really have to figure out how we
  got so afraid of birth and why, of all places in
  the world, we got rid of midwives here

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Wrapping it Up

• Midwives are the most common birth attendant in
  the world.
• The average child born in this world is born into
  the hands of a midwife.
• There are more than 5,000 Certified
  Nurse-Midwives in the United States who attend
  150,000 births annually.

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Works Cited

• Parkland Memorial Hospital (1999)
  www. swmed.edu
• Salon Brilliant Careers The midwife of modern
  midwifery www.salon.com
• Webster's Dictionary (1999)
• Encarta (1997)
  

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Thats All Folks

• By Sara Howard
• sehowar_at_clemson.edu