International Day of the Midwife

Yes it is Cinco de Mayo today...

And it is also International Day of the Midwife!

So this post is for all the midwives out there...in Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe, Australia, and maybe there's even some on Antarctica from time to time :) 

There is so much to be done globally to improve on maternity services and give women the choice of a safe birth and healthy baby.

This post is also for the 13 lovely ladies that I will be traveling to the Philippines with soon, all midwives-to-be. 

Here's a great article I read recently by Dr. Aviva Romm on "How Being a Midwife Made Me a Better Doctor" 

She writes:

"To be a midwife requires one to step outside of the confines of self and selfishness. To be awake and present and loving and creative and generous and trans-personally connected even when we would rather be in the comfort of our own beds, deep in our own private dreams. It requires one to become truly present with those in our care."

"It means letting the fears, dreads, concerns, worries of another wash over you and allows you to take all of these and spin them into a neat ball of confidence, courage, and grace that you hand back to the woman – and remind her that this was hers all along. And it is having a strong enough sense of self that we take no credit for the success of those we’ve midwifed – we are happy to be the invisible wind beneath their wings." 

Wow. That is definitely something to aspire to. It's not just about skills -- it is about selflessness and nonjudgmental love for every woman in our care.