Empowerment: Why Women Need to Reclaim Birth

The human race survived long before there were ever OBGYN's and the medical establishment. In fact, the advent of OBYN's is a relatively new concept, that came about in the late 1800's. Before then, only women attended births and supported laboring mother's. These women were called "Midwives" which means "with mother" and they went about their duties with pride, tenderness, and love. Birth was a sacred process, respected by all women, but not feared.

In the late 1800's, women did not have much status in America. They were not permitted to vote, work, or have many of the same rights as the men in society. Women were thought to be weak, incapable, and ignorant. They were not believed to be capable of making good decisions, and therefore could not be in charge of anything - including birth. There were some rural midwives that survived this time, but training and education for them was scarce, and there was no united group or organization for them. As women were told over and over about all of their shortcomings, they began to accept it as truth, and turned their laboring selves over to men. The mother/infant morbidity rate soared and birthing women were no longer treated with respect and tenderness. A horrible time in American history began for pregnant mothers.

During this time, through experimentation, doctors learned many new things about the pregnant woman, her body, her baby, and the processes of labor. Although some of these discoveries were important, many of them added to more interventions on the part of the doctors during the birthing process. C-sections became more safe in this time than previously and so were more widely - and sometimes unnecessarily - used. Because there was no educational system for the rural midwives, they did not have access to many of the new discoveries that the doctors had access to, and their quality of care started taking on a second rate feeling. This is where the assumption that midwives are for second class citizens who cannot afford doctors comes from.