Trust..... it IS what is takes to be a midwife.

Women must find within themselves the ability to trust what they and their body and baby know to give birth. For some this is easier than others. For some it comes as a huge milestone of life and when they get there, it is an amazing triumph with tears of accomplishment. Sometimes even we as midwives cry for the gratitude that we were there to support and hold space for this woman to learn the trust within her.

We as midwives must trust too. To trust means to know what is the safe parameters and to support the process of a woman so far as she and the baby are safe. This is why you learn to know how to assess what is safe and what is not. When to help a woman move forward and when she is moving forward all on her own.

Patience is important in being a midwife and so is wisdom to know when too much patience may lead to an out come less favorable. Patience can bring a baby down into the pelvis and wisdom can ensure it comes down safely. Women need help to be patient and persistant sometimes. You are the wise woman that reminds her of the path she has choosen to go on especially when she is deviating from that and is looking to you to guide her back. Patience is also the wise woman who waits and does not intervine when the mother is on her path and it is working and you must just wait. The baby will come.

I want to impart to you the ability to make wise decisions when to wait, when to be patient and when to give guidance to a woman who needs it. Listen to her, listen to your wisdom, listen to what you have learned and make a good call. When you do, the baby will come, mom will feel empowered and there will be positive outcomes.

Timing is Everything

I have wondered how a midwife decides to start becoming one. I know for me it was because someone invited me to a birth at home. For many I think it is when they have a baby at home. Because this is such an empowering experience they desire to tell the world because it has changed their life. Many woman will go to classes and learn and especially be passionate at telling others about this option. Some have had both hospital and home births and want other women to understand the difference and why they must choose home.

But every woman has her own path to follow, her own journey to walk. Like birth, know one can carry her there. She must walk this on her own two feet. There she will have supporters that will guide her to keep her on the path which leads to the best experience, she must trust that path that will lead her to the goal, serving women who also choose to walk on their own two feet to their babies.

Some women want to stand on a box and put down the medical establishment by validating that they do things that cause problems. But the work of a midwife is to support women in learning about their own power and bodies and to support them to keep them healthy and well. A midwife is there to walk along side a woman to keep safety and hold space for trust in birth and her baby. We are not midwives because our work is to put down the medical establishment. That is not only a waste of time and energy but energy goes where attention flows. We as midwives and students must focus our energies toward the goals. Building the maternity care which supports normal healthy women and babies in having optimum outcomes.