People ask me all the time
if my birth story is in the play Birth.
It’s not.
But there is a scene
just before Jillian’s third birth
where she meets a doctor
in South Texas,
a place where finding a
mother-friendly obstetrician
was a long shot,
but Jillian found one.
Well, that obstetrician
in the play
was MY backup obstetrician.
Yes, I was having a
homebirth.
Every home birth midwife knows that
a champion backup OB is
priceless.
One that TRUSTS
midwives.
In Arkansas the odds of meeting that
Champion OB
wasn’t something I’d bet
our life savings on.
Well, I should have.
I remember the first time I met
Dr. Baldwin
his office piled with books,
a British accent,
black hair swung to the side
to cover his receding hairline.
A tea cup.
Yes, he offered me tea.
We spoke of women’s
glorious bodies,
the power of pregnancy,
how ‘midwives are the people who should do normal birth’,
and then at the end he told me:
“In my 30 years of
medicine
I’ve learned more
from birthing women
than I ever did from
medical text books.”
It was at that moment
that I fell in love with
Dr. Baldwin.
I’d found an
Obstetric Birth champion.
When I wrote my play
YES I heard story after story of
the BAD obstetrician.
But sprinkled in there
I also heard
Dr. Baldwin stories.
Birth champions
boldly
listening to pregnant women
planting the seeds of empowerment
through their
words,
actions,
trust,
presence.
Today I give thanks,
celebrate,
honor
every obstetrician who has ever
believed
pregnant women’s bodies ROCK.
I’m grateful that people like
YOU
and many others
keeping the light on
for pregnant women
to shine.
Can I hear an Amen?
If you know an
obstetrician who’s a birth champion please tell us their name and share
something about them to give thanks for their bold service to the world.
Final note...10 years after I gave birth my play Birth was performed where I gave birth in Little Rock, Arkansas. The night I got into Little Rock my midwives had arranged a late night dinner at a local Asian restaurant with a bunch of midwives and doulas. After dinner we look over and sitting in the corner of the restaurant having a quiet meal is Dr. Baldwin and his wife! The photo above was taken that night. Thank you, Dr. Baldwin. :)
3 comments:
We have our wonderful Dr. Morton and Dr. Magee here in RI. We're thankful for them championing and respecting normal birth!
Happy Thanksgiving to all!
It doesn't bother you at all that Fischbein and Biter have been placed on probation for extremely problematic conduct?
Well, Anonymous...after receiving your comment I did a little investigation and yes, since both men were placed on probation I have decided to take their names off of this post primarily because it distracts from the purpose of this post which is to celebrate OBs who champion mother-friendly birth and listen to pregnant mothers.
But I do want to say this: If Dr. Baldwin was practicing today he could very well also be an OB put on probation. He was ALWAYS pushing the edge of what was acceptable in the conservative medical setting. He was talked about behind his back in hospital hallways for being too risky (encouraging low risk patients to labor at home until they were late in their labors), people went up to his house and threw bricks into his windows, and of course he supported and spoke out in favor of home birth and midwives to his colleagues who thought he was NUTS.
So while I am removing the two OBs mentioned originally in this post because honestly I don't know about their cases enough to comment with integrity I feel very strongly that not every obstetrician (or midwife for that matter) should be 'hung' jut because they are placed on probation. There are witch hunts against bold obstetricians just as there are against midwives. Every case is individual and warrants judgement based on individual facts.
I appreciate BOLD (evidence based, safe) practicing obstetricians all over the globe. And thank them dearly for their willingness to challenge a culture that does not put pregnant women center stage.
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