Dutch Midwives on America

Every three years, midwives from all over the world gather together for a conference known as the International Confederation of Midwives Congress. The last gathering was held this past June in Durban, South Africa. It would be really wonderful to attend someday. Until then, however, I like reading about the event in the newsletter I get from the Midwives Alliance of North America.

The article that caught my attention the most was written by a midwife (from Traverse City, MI!) about her experience going on an African safari with three Dutch midwives after the congress had ended. She wrote that around the campfire in the evenings, the midwives opened up to each other about what their daily lives were like back home and what they thought about each other's health care system. Here is what those three Dutch midwives had to say about American midwives, as described by the midwife from Michigan:

"They said Americans might be the most passionate of all midwives, particularly because we have such an oppressive healthcare system where we are always fighting just to do the work of serving women and babies. The U.S. is one of the few industrialized countries in the world in which midwifery has been outlawed, and consequently we have a political battle unlike most other countries which have never outlawed midwifery. In the past century in Europe, maternity care developed to incorporate male obstetrics and female midwifery, side by side, as complements to one another. During that same time period in the United States, there was a rise in obstetrics, a fall in midwifery, and a clash in models punctuated by turf wars that exist to this day. In addition, the U.S. healthcare system is a for-profit system, maternity care is the biggest profit center of the system, and the system is not designed to support midwives. We face significant challenges.

"Our colleagues from The Netherlands said that, oddly enough, they look to American midwives for inspiration, because many of the Dutch midwives have gotten complacent working within a system in which they do not have to fight for much. They see American midwives continually being willing to fight passionately for normal birth, for low-intervention birth, and for women's autonomy in childbirth. They observe that our passion becomes very personal, women benefit from the fiery passion we bring to our work, and it connects us to them in a magnetic way. This, they said, inspires them. They cannot imagine the courage it takes to stand our ground in the face of possible arrest, lawsuits, and jail time. They cannot imagine having to fight a whole hospital system just to help a woman have a waterbirth. They cannot imagine the amount of persistence it takes to advocate for normal birth amidst the increasing American trends of standardized, mechanized, assembly line obstetrics. And they are totally appalled to think pregnant women cannot make autonomous choices about where and with whom to have their babies, namely, at home with midwives, especially in variant situations such as breech, and that midwives keep advocating for women's choices regardless. They said it is our unending passion for 'just plain birth' that inspires them. Our dedication and tenacity in holding the space for normal birth - no matter what - is a huge contribution to midwifery globally."

Wow. I'm not sure whether to be humbled by the Dutch midwives' description of American midwives as inspiring or to be terribly embarrassed and shamed by how much the rest of the world knows about just how terrible our healthcare system is. I suppose recognition and appreciation is always nice, even if it comes from people on the other side of the world. What a mess we have here. Oh yeah, no wonder I'm feeling stressed about my work. Every day is a battle. Imagine, the Dutch midwives feel complacent because they don't have to fight for anything! Their work of serving women and families is respected by the medical community, no one is out to get them, AND, they have health insurance and benefits I can only dream about! Oh, AND, midwives in Holland are always in demand and hiring preference is given to midwives WITHOUT a nursing degree. Imagine!

I don't know. If the Democrats lose next year, we just might consider becoming Dutch.