--i will always be a student midwife. always be learning. to me that is essential to being an outlaw midwife. and the folks i learn the most from about birth and childbearing are the mamas. talking to them. listening to their stories of childbearing. everyone's story is different, takes unexpected twists and turns.
--at births, i imagine myself to be the hum in the background. reassuring. riding the waves up and down with the mama.
--for me being a midwife is more than knowing the physiology of childbearing. it is knowing how to stop pregnancy, if desired. this is why i created the lilith plan.
--here in egypt, where i live, local traditional midwives often do the female and male circumcision as well. as gloria lemay pointed out to me a couple of years ago, the cutting of another genitals without that person's consent is a violation of their bodily autonomy. so as an outlaw midwife here, i tell folks, i dont do circumcision and i see no reason for it to be done to a child. if that child when they grow up wants to have circumcision they will have every right to do so on their own body.
--i was in sinai egypt last week and i kept thinking about what are the bedouin traditions of childbearing. i dont know yet. what does it mean to give birth in a desert traveling culture? and how the mountains themselves are pregnant earth.
Welcome, Mai'a! I was really delighted to hear you would be writing with us.
ReplyDeleteI read with interest a number of conversations you have been a part of on the web. I so appreciate that you do not shy away from subject matter that stirs controversy. I look forward to having you here!
Back to the midwifery conference after a baby break! I am heartened to hear some of those uncomfortable issues being faced.