Have you ever considered that how you give birth determines how your baby’s brain will function during his or her lifetime? Have you ever considered that how you give birth determines what kind of mother you will be? Have you ever considered that much of the technology we use to today during childbirth is actually dangerous and unnecessary? Have you every considered having your baby the traditional way, at home with a midwife? As a matter of fact, most of the world’s babies are born into the loving and skilled hands of a midwife. There are several types of midwives and depending upon her training and protocols, the midwife will deliver babies in the hospital, birth center or at your home. A Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) is a highly skilled, highly trained professional who has learned the art of midwifery through study, apprenticeship and has taken a national standardized test, a test much like doctors and nurses take to become licensed, to show her competency. A CPM is recognized as a health care provider of maternity services in many states, including Texas where I live and practice. CPM’s are licensed and regulated through the state to provide prenatal, birth and post partum care to you and your baby. Statistically, it is just as safe and perhaps safer to have your baby at home. A study in the British Medical Journal reports, “Low-risk home births, assisted by a certified midwife, required fewer medical interventions than hospital births and were found equally safe for mother and baby.” The study goes on to report that 3.7% of mothers who give birth with a midwife will have a cesarean section as compared to the current national c/section rate of 30% for mothers who birth in the hospital. That is a huge difference! Why is there such a huge difference? This difference exists largely because midwives believe in three things. They believe in the normalcy of birth. This means that midwives trust that labor will begin when the mother and baby are both ready, that the labor will last as long as is needed for both the mom and the baby and that the mother is completely capable of pushing her own baby out of her own body, on her own. A midwife is an expert in normal birth, so if something is beyond normal, a midwife will know and will make the appropriate suggestions or take the appropriate actions. Second, midwives believe they are there to serve the mother. This means that the mother determines the course of her care, how she will labor and give birth. These things are not decided for her. If a mother needs to walk in labor, she is encouraged and supported to listen to her body and follow it. If a mother needs to rest, she is given the space to rest her body and renew herself to continue the work of labor. If a mother needs to change positions to push her baby out, she is encouraged to find the position the feels right and this position will always be the best position for the baby and the mom. Third, midwives believe that a baby is a human being. Midwives love your baby and will completely respect your baby by speaking softly, keeping the lights low, handling the baby with gentleness. Your wishes about the care you receive or decline for your baby is always respected and coercion is never necessary, because it is about what you want, not about what the midwife wants. You get to decide how you want to give birth, not doctors, not nurses, not policemen and not even midwives. How you bring your children into this world is for you to decide. Peaceful birthing to you all.