Belly Tales

The Diary of a New Midwife

Angelina the Midwife

Filed under: Birth Education, Homebirth, Labor and Birth, Midwifery, Myth, Folklore and Ritual — The Midwife at 12:38 pm on Monday, December 10, 2007

I just discovered the most amazing videos over on You Tube about a traditional midwife working in Mexico. I’m sure many of you have probably seen them already, but I was just blown away!! It’s amazing to watch the way she uses her hands to massage, assess, palpate…turn a breech baby. A midwife’s greatest tool is her hands. I wonder how many of the women I see in the clinic come from traditional midwifery practices like this. American midwifery must seem very different to them. At it’s heart, I think the respect and tenderness and kindness to pregnant women remains the same, but we could learn so much from traditional practices like this. It makes me want to quit my job, fly down to Mexico and study with her for a year. In any case, enjoy!

YouTube Preview Image YouTube Preview Image YouTube Preview Image

Female Genital Circumcision revisited

Filed under: Choice, Education, Feminism, Myth, Folklore and Ritual, Politics, Sex and Sexuality, Violence Against Women — The Midwife at 4:27 pm on Thursday, November 1, 2007

Blessingways and Rites of Passage

Filed under: Myth, Folklore and Ritual, Pregnancy — The Midwife at 10:33 am on Friday, June 24, 2005

Gods and Goddesses of Birth

Filed under: Myth, Folklore and Ritual — The Midwife at 2:50 pm on Friday, May 6, 2005