Category Archives: Good Enough to Share

My Birth Story

By The Midwife | Published: May 27, 2011

It’s funny to be writing this.  I have heard and listened to so many women share their birth stories with me, posted birth stories here on my blog, attended births and helped women write their birth stories, but now I come to a first for me: the writing of my own birth story.  I think […]

Also posted in Birth Stories, Homebirth, Labor and Birth, Vaginal Birth | 1 Comment

Blessingway Poetry

By The Midwife | Published: May 13, 2011

I also wanted to share the two poems which were read at my Blessingway, because they are so beautiful, and even now, just reading them will bring tears to my eyes. Mother Wisdom Speaks by Christine Lore Webber Some of you I will hollow out. I will make you a cave. I will carve you […]

Also posted in Birth Art, Labor and Birth, Myth, Folklore and Ritual | Leave a comment

Vaginal twins at 25 weeks

By The Midwife | Published: February 24, 2011

So one of the advantages of working as a midwife in a hospital is that I get to participate in many births that I wouldn’t have the opportunity to experience in private practice.  If I were working as a private practice midwife, and as a homebirth midwife in particular, there is no way I would […]

Also posted in Birth Stories, Complications, Hospitals, Labor and Birth, Vaginal Birth | Leave a comment

Too Cute!

By The Midwife | Published: May 4, 2010

This is from Brownstoner, via NewYorkShitty.  Found in McCarren Park, Williamsburg, NY.  Totally cracks me up!

Posted in Good Enough to Share | Leave a comment

Just a hemorrhage kind of night

By The Midwife | Published: October 28, 2008

Last night was a very strange night. It wasn’t that busy, and yet, somehow, neither the other midwife nor myself were able to take a break. The pace was very steady. We kept expecting it to settle down, but it never did. Just as we were thinking “oh, as soon as this woman is discharged, […]

Also posted in Birth Stories, Complications, Hospitals, Labor and Birth, Midwifery, Vaginal Birth | 4 Comments

The Biggest Baby I’ve ever caught

By The Midwife | Published: June 9, 2008

Here’s a lovely birth story to share, my 99th delivery: We were all expecting a big baby. Her estimated fetal weight from Leopold’s palpation was judged to be approximately 4500 gms. The baby felt huge: fat and happy, and we were all duly nervous, because her first baby was only 7.5 pounds. She wasn’t a […]

Also posted in Birth Stories, Labor and Birth, Vaginal Birth | 7 Comments

Normal birth against all odds

By The Midwife | Published: November 25, 2007

Sometimes birth is not normal. Sometimes there really are complications and problems which need to be dealt with in a hospital setting. Sometimes a medical approach to birth is exactly what’s needed. Sometimes interventions during birth ARE lifesaving. Yesterday was a perfect example of that. I was helping to take care of a woman who […]

Also posted in Birth Stories, Complications, Hospitals, Inductions, Labor and Birth | 9 Comments

50th Birth

By The Midwife | Published: November 9, 2007

Today I caught my 50th baby! She was born at 4:18 pm to a young woman from Puerto Rico who was absolutely thrilled and excited about her first pregnancy. She was an induction for postdates (per hospital policy, all women are induced if they’re still pregnant at 41 weeks); she’d actually had an incidence of […]

Also posted in Birth Stories, Hospitals, Inductions, Labor and Birth, Labor Support, Midwifery, Vaginal Birth | 2 Comments

Hospital Midwifery

By The Midwife | Published: November 6, 2007

Rachel commented, in response to my Worry-wart = New Midwife post: “I was interested to see in your description how “medical” the treatment of the L&D patients seems to be, despite having a midwife on hand. Any thoughts on that?” Of course I have thoughts on that! First of all, this is hospital midwifery and […]

Also posted in Birth Stories, Hospitals, Labor and Birth, Midwifery | 4 Comments

Messy birth

By The Midwife | Published: March 4, 2007

Someone asked me once how I can stand to be around birth all the time, with all its sights and smells and liquids and mess. I told this person that honestly, I very rarely notice it, and it doesn’t bother me, obviously, or else how could I continue to do this day in and day […]

Also posted in Birth Stories, Clinicals, Education, Labor and Birth, Midwifery | 2 Comments