Did Mary Have a Midwife?

The following was recently written by Jennifer Williams, a certified nurse-midwife, on the American College of Nurse Midwives blog. You can read it here. I liked it so much I thought I would also share it on my blog

When I was a little girl, I always thought there was a problem with our Nativity set. I could never figure out why the baby was barely dressed and separated from his mama, laying in a bucket of hay. He looked pretty cold and lonely to me. When I was in middle school, I looked at the Nativity set and thought, “Wow, Mary looks pretty good for just having given birth in a stable.” As you can see, my fascination with birth greatly preceded my plans for midwifery school.

Even now, one of my favorite parts of the Christmas season is seeing all of the images of Mary and her baby son, Jesus. Throughout history, artists have been compelled to illustrate the Madonna and her newborn. Christmas as a celebration of birth captures my imagination. I love the Christmas card aisle at the store and, even though I am a notorious slacker at sending Christmas cards, some years I am tempted enough to purchase a pack just because I love the images. I love the cultural interpretations of the Nativity that are prevalent in my state, New Mexico. A Pueblo Nativity is a work of art and love and draws my mind through cultures and time. Pregnancy and birth is a universal experience for mothers, often joyous, sometimes tragic, occasionally both.

There is a joke about what would have happened if three wise women had shown up at Jesus’ birth instead of three wise men. It goes, “Three wise women would have asked directions, arrived on time, helped deliver the baby, cleaned the stable, made a casserole, and brought practical gifts.” I wonder if perhaps a wise woman did attend that young mother in the stable. I always hoped that Mary had someone around who could support her, dry off her baby, help her get started breastfeeding, keep an eye on her bleeding—these are the same things I wish for all women, but unfortunately many lack this very basic care. 

As midwives, we come from a rich variety of cultures and beliefs. However, if the image of a birth in a stable captures your imagination the way it captures mine, I would invite you to reflect upon the conditions and circumstances surrounding birth around the world today. Whatever your personal beliefs, I know that we all wish for safe births attended by loving and supportive hands. I know we wish for all children to be educated, valued, and fed. I know we all wish for peace on earth and goodwill for humankind.

Separated at Birth

When a woman who has just given birth cannot afford to pay medical fees, there is a risk in Indonesia that her baby will be taken hostage. 

This was a recent story on the BBC web page that told the too common story of newborns separated from their families by hospitals, clinics, and private midwives when they are unable to pay the bill for care during their birth. The story highlighted one such family in Bali (pictured above) in which a women who had given birth to twins but only had enough to pay for one birth. She was separated from her son for four months as every day the debt increased, as the clinic charged for the baby's upkeep. In the end her son was returned to her thanks to the intervention of an American midwife living and working in Bali.

According to the story 36 such cases were reported to the government in 2010 but they acknowledge that many more cases probably occurred as most people probably didn't report it. Care for poor women who are pregnant has been paid for by the government for several years now, but correctly identifying those women, budget shortfalls, and bureaucracy have prevented this funding from reaching those in need. In the coming year a new plan will hopefully be put in place providing universal health care for pregnant women throughout Indonesia but funding problems are expected. Hopefully at least these steps will help reduce this problem. In addition, hopefully it will encourage those who avoid coming to clinics and hospitals because of the cost to seek care.