Let’s tell the truth
Today is International Day of the Midwife. We celebrate all midwives, but today we want to tell the brutally honest truth you may not already know.
Midwifery as it exists today is not what midwifery has been historically. Traditional midwifery practices didn’t fade away because they were unsafe.
They were intentionally and systematically pushed out.
For thousands of years, birth was attended by midwives. Birth happened in homes and communities, supported by experienced women who understood the normal rhythms of the body.
Birth was considered a normal, community and family event. Not a medical emergency waiting to happen.
Then medicine became a profession. Male physicians began taking an interest in birth. And midwives, many of whom were women, immigrants, and Black community healers, were systematically removed from maternity care.
There were intentional, widespread campaigns designed to discredit midwives — claiming they were “dirty,” untrained, uneducated, and dangerous. This narrative was deeply rooted in racism and classism, because at the time, many midwives were Black, Indigenous, or immigrant women serving their own communities.
One of the turning points in that shift was the Flexner Report.
The Flexner Report standardized medical education in the United States and helped establish modern physician training. It also wiped out community-based training programs, closed schools that served women and Black practitioners, and accelerated the move toward hospital-centered birth. It was also openly and explicitly racist in its language and recommendations — and you can still read the report yourself today.
And here we are, more than a century later, living in a culture where birth is often treated like a medical problem to manage instead of a physiologic process to support.
This is not conspiracy or an “opinion.” It’s history HERstory.
Midwives have gained traction and credibility again, but largely within the medical industrial model. The certified nurse midwife (CNM) credential, for example, requires practitioners to become nurses first, then pursue advanced training in midwifery. And while we are grateful this more holistic option exists, it is not the same as the community-based midwifery wisdom that was nearly lost when traditional midwives were pushed out of maternity care.
Modern medicine has saved lives. We are incredibly fortunate to have surgical care, antibiotics, and emergency support when things go sideways. We’re not suggesting throwing out medical care - but rather finding a balance.
Because something valuable was lost when midwives were pushed to the margins. We lost relationship based, continuous, holistic care.
And families are realizing how important that care is to them.
That’s why midwifery is making a comeback. Because people want care that goes deeper. They want care that treats them like a human rather than a patient.
If this history is new to you, and you want to understand how we got here, these books are a powerful place to start:
Witches, Midwives, and Nurses: A History of Women Healers by Barbara Ehrenreich and Deirdre English: A short, bold, and eye-opening. It shows how women healers were systematically pushed out as medicine became male-dominated and professionalized.
Invisible Labor: The Untold Story of the Cesarean Section by Rachel Somerstein
This book connects the dots between the rise of hospital birth, the growth of cesarean surgery, and the social and political forces that shaped modern maternity care.
Born in the USA by Marsden Wagner
A blunt look at how the U.S. maternity care system developed — and why outcomes here often lag behind other countries.
You deserve to know this history.
Because the way birth looks today did not happen by accident. It was shaped by policy, power, and cultural beliefs about women’s bodies.
And on International Day of the Midwife, it feels important to say that midwives are not a relic of the past or an “alternative.”
Midwifery is its own discipline. Midwives are the original model of care.
We go deeper into this history inside The Birth Alchemy Course, not to overwhelm you, but to help you understand the system you’re giving birth in so you can navigate it with clarity and confidence.
Enrollment is open, and you can get started right away.
This is not your traditional childbirth class. You’ll learn the practical tools you need for birth, plus the bigger picture of how our birth culture was shaped, and how to trust yourself to make the best decisions for your body and your baby.
Always in your corner,
Kayla & Leslie
Responses