Midwives

Apolonia Plácido in the backyard of the CAMI Nellys Palomo. She is a Mixteco leader from the Mountain of Guerrero, president and one of the founders of the CAMI San Luis Acatlán.

World News

These Indigenous Mexican women are reclaiming their power through ancestral practices

2:58pm October 15, 2023

Photographer Tania Barrientos shares the stories of midwives and leaders at Indigenous women's centers called CAMIs in Costa Chica de Guerrero, a coastal region in southwest México.

Currently a master's student in social work at Temple University in Philadephia, Lavelah stocks up on supplies to bring home.

Health & Safety

'Comfort Closet' helps Liberians overcome an obstacle to delivering in a hospital

10:48am October 15, 2022

by Jason Silverstein

Public hospitals in Liberia may require a bag of supplies to gain admission for delivery: bleach, baby clothes, diapers. The $100 price tag is too much for the poor. One nurse has a solution.

Bethany Gates, a certified professional midwife in Iowa, examines her client, Mandy King. King has three children and this will be her first home birth.

As home births rise in popularity, some midwives operate in a legal gray area

5:01am April 05, 2022

by Natalie Krebs

As maternity wards continue to close across the U.S., demand for midwives has grown, especially in rural areas. But hospitals and health care providers have raised concerns about licensing and safety.

A scene from Midwives: A baby whose face is adorned with thanaka — a kind of sunscreen made from wood bark.

Sundance prize goes to 'Midwives' — about a Buddhist midwife and her Muslim apprentice

8:36pm January 28, 2022

by Malaka Gharib

The documentary follows a Buddhist and a Muslim — who don't always get along — as they provide health care to Muslim women and children despite growing political and religious tensions in Myanmar.

Why Are Health-Care Providers Slapping And Yelling At Mothers During Childbirth?

12:41pm October 14, 2019

by Susan Brink

Physical and verbal abuse are a shockingly common experience for mothers, a new study in The Lancet reports.

Selamawit Lake Fenta of Ethiopia was named one of five midwife champions this year by the International Confederation of Midwives.

What A Midwife Wishes People Knew About Her Job

8:49am May 05, 2019

by Malaka Gharib

In many countries, midwives get little respect. Selamawit Lake Fenta of Ethiopia tells why she is proud of her profession — and how she's advancing rights for midwives.

Patchen has been a midwife for twenty years and is the founder of the Teen Alliance for Prepared Parenting or TAPP at Medstar Washington Hospital Center.

Health & Safety

'Where The Need Is': Tackling Teen Pregnancy With A Midwife At School

12:08pm June 12, 2018

by Selena Simmons-Duffin

With teen pregnancy rates in some communities stubbornly high, one school district is trying something different: staff the schools with a midwife.

Queue Listen Now

Nurse-midwife Cynthia Voytas demonstrates equipment used to deliver nitrous oxide at South County Hospital in North Kingstown, R.I.

Laughing Gas Gives Women Another Option To Manage Labor Pain

11:46am November 07, 2016

by Kristin Gourlay

Move over, epidurals, here comes nitrous oxide. After enjoying popularity in the U.S. for managing labor pain until the mid-20th century, it was dropped in favor of anesthesia. Now it's back.

Queue Listen Now

Should More Women Give Birth Outside The Hospital?

12:48pm July 13, 2015

by Dianna Douglas

The British medical system says healthy women with normal pregnancies should give birth at home or in a midwife-led facility. But 99 percent of babies in the U.S. are born in hospitals.

Queue Listen Now