Midwives

by Jacqueline George

10/31/2023

Intuition and inner knowing don’t replace skill, education, or experience. They inform them. They enhance them.

The trust midwives and other holistic practitioners place not only in their own intuition, but in the mother’s intuition and her deep connection to her baby, is what sets this kind of care apart from that which is prevalent in the medical model of care. There is no single true definition of “normal,” there is not just one box that each mother must fit or be forced into. Instead, there is a recognition of the mother and baby as individuals themselves and as a unique dyad experiencing a discrete and extraordinary birth. Each labor unfolds in its own time and its own way, and what is normal for one mother may not be normal for another. The key is knowing that these differences do not necessarily equate to abnormality. Often birth is a spectrum, full of nuance and fluidity.

This is true individualization of care, respect for autonomy, and wisdom with regards to the physiology of birth.