The Midwifery Page

What is a midwife? Midwife comes from the old English "med-wyf" meaning "with woman." Sage femme, the French term for midwife, means "wise woman." Midwives are best known for caring for women and their babies during pregnancy, childbirth and in the postpartum period. But many midwives provide lifetime "well-woman" care for their clients. Midwives may be trained through apprenticeship and hands-on learning and/or through many years of formal schooling. You will often find that a certified nurse-midwife has a Master of Science degree in nurse-midwifery. Your insurance program may cover a midwife, for a home or hospital birth. Midwives are experts in normal childbirth. Obstetricians are experts in complications. Most births in the world are attended by midwives. In those countries which have the world's lowest infant mortality rates, only complicated births are attended by obstetricians. The rest go to midwives - and moms!

Interviews

Margot Early interviews her midwife, Marina Alzugaray

Click here to read Midwife to Mom: Thoughts on Mothering

Interviews with Homebirth Moms

Books

Here are some of my favorites on midwifery, pregnancy and birth

Spiritual Midwifery by Ina May Gaskin

This book changed my life.

The Wise Woman's Herbal for the Childbearing Years by Susun Weed

The most comfortable woman herbalist out-there. I have found this book extraordinarily trustworthy.

Diary of a Midwife by Juliana van Olphen-Fehr

This reads like a good story, packed with riveting scenes and conflict. It is serious and thoughtful and clearly explains cause and effect in birth situations. Very enjoyable.

A Midwife's Story by Penny Armstrong and Sheryl Feldman

A midwife working among the Amish. This book is beautiful and will make you cry.

Sisters on a Journey by Penfield Chester

First person accounts from many different midwives and some different types of midwives. A broad range of stories and voices.

Citizens for Midwifery

Fact sheets on midwifery, birth and more.

Positive Pregnancy Fitness by Sylvia Klein Olkin

Margot used her exercises from an earlier version of this book throughout her pregnancy. She believes it helped.

The Complete Book of Pregnancy and Childbirth by Sheila Kitzinger

Midwifery on the Web

About Midwives - Special Delivery

The most comprehensive directory of midwifery links and links to the web.

Birthdance: A Labor of Love

An article on birth and belly dance and belly dance to prepare for birth based on a manuscript by Suzanne McNeil at Delilah's visionary dance website.

Midwife's Dream

I love the tone of this page, an encouragement of birthing women and some practical advice and answers for pregnant women. Perhaps the most complete collection of midwifery links on the web. Wonderful orginal articles. Moms and midwives and apprentices can link and read for hours. The best.

CoMadres

Learn about the institute established by Margot's midwife, Marina Alzuguray, from Cuba, and meet Marina!

The Midwife and Homebirth

Very homey and informative site. Beautiful pictures, many resources.

Birth Love: The Revolutionary Passion of Mothering

This site buzzes with birth energy.

The Coyote Midwife Home Page

Birth stories, happy and sad, quotations, links and others. Good site.

WWW Pregnancy Ring

Cathy Hartt's Midwifery Page

MoonDragon Birthing Services

A great site for learning about midwifery, located in Salem, Massachusetts.

Online Birth Center

There is so much information here on birth, midwifery, risks and complications, and more. A wonderful site.

Midwifery Today Homepage

A wonderful magazine, online and off. Technical information, books, resources. Excellent.

The Farm Midwives

Words don't express! Here you will find midwives, research on homebirth, an article on shoulder dystocia, and much more. This is the birthplace of Spiritual Midwifery by Ina May Gaskin. The Farm midwives also publish quarterly The Birth Gazette.

Citizens for Midwifery

Fact sheets on midwifery, birth and more.

Birth Centers

A site on birth centers with FAQs on childbearing, stories and songs, birth tales, and a grandparents's corner!

AtHome Mothers

A site for AtHome Moms! Magazine info, association, free information guides and more.

Marylin's Midwifery Lynx

Browsing for hours--great for moms, midwives and women. Wonderful articles on pregnancy, birth and midwifery. Resources for products for moms.

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