Have you hugged a midwife today?

It’s the International Day of the Midwife and I’d like to give a huge shout out to my midwife, J.  

I’ve known J for a long time.  She was not my first midwife, but my longest midwife.  Her first birth as an apprentice was with my third baby and oddly enough, her last birth as apprentice was with my fourth baby.  She then went on to also attend my births for babies number five, six, seven and eight.  So, you could say we have some history.

J listens to me complain about how my hips hurt.  She comes over and patiently waits for multiple sets of little hands to feel my belly and listen to their siblings heartbeat in utero, each with a mini-lesson on how its done.  She laughs and cries with me.  She doesn’t freak out when I scream, “Come now!”  She doesn’t complain when we’re going on hour forty of labor, either.

She knows my quirks when it comes to pregnancy, but she trusts that I know my body and my “stuff” when it comes to statistics.  J leaves her own child at home to come be by my side.  She’s probably missed some fun events, dinners or heck, just quiet nights at home because I needed her.  I also know that she has cold hands that warm up after awhile, that she prefers hot soup and bread for an after birth meal and that she thinks my husband is a great cook.

She is also an amazing carpet cleaner, laundress and even makes a mean bed.  She’s a great photo grapher of newborns.  J even teachs a sweet little lesson to the older siblings on placentas after the birth – every time.

Whether you know my J or not, you know a midwife like her, be sure to take a minute to say thank you for everything that they give up so that women can have safe, satisfying births.