The Midwives Voice

12/03/2025

Registration for GOLD Midwifery Online Conference 2026 is officially open, and we’d love to have you join us. You’ll connect with expert speakers and peers from around the world to dive into the latest midwifery care research.

🗓️ February 2 - May 29, 2026
💻 Unlimited access from wherever you are

Here’s what you can look forward to at our 12th annual event:
🔹Accredited hours for your recertification
🔹Informative, evidence-based lectures on today’s key topics in childbirth care
🔹Live interaction and a welcoming global community

Take a peek at the topics & abstracts: GOLDMidwifery.com/conference/speakers

New to GOLD? Here’s how it works: GOLDMidwifery.com/conference/how-gold-works

Ready to join us? Register here: GOLDMidwifery.com/conference/registration

12/03/2025

12/03/2025

Sharing from LinkedIn via Marieke Ogay

Hidden History of Japanese American Midwives.

For decades, Japanese American midwives (sanba) were primary health-care providers for immigrant communities on the U.S. West Coast and in Hawai‘i, delivering tens of thousands of babies between about 1910 and 1940.​

Trained and licensed in Japan, many saw themselves as both professionals and entrepreneurs, organizing midwife associations and building respected practices even while facing racism, exclusion from citizenship, and restrictive health regulations.​

Source: Susan L. Smith, Japanese American Midwives: Culture, Community, and Health Politics, 1880–1950 (University of Illinois Press, 2005).

11/30/2025

On my reading list!

Just published…

The Last Midwife by former midwife Karen Lawrence

“I’m going to s***f out the old witches – every last one of them!”

Set in a future England where childbirth has become a state-controlled procedure, midwives have been outlawed for decades. Only a few brave women remain, working in the shadows to help mothers give birth in secret—risking everything as the government closes in.

When Chiara, a young nurse from Sicily, arrives at the pristine Genesis Centre, her dreams are shattered by the horrifying truth concealed within its walls. At the same time, Rava—the privileged wife of a government official- watches her perfect life crumble when her pregnancy fails to meet the state’s strict requirements.

✨ Two women. One oppressive system. A fierce battle for life, choice, and humanity.

Drawing on her experience as a former midwife, Karen Lawrence brings deep authenticity and emotional power to this gripping dystopian tale.

The Last Midwife is both a thriller and a profound exploration of reproductive control, resilience, and the unstoppable courage of women who refuse to be silenced.

A must-read for lovers of dystopian fiction, feminist storytelling, and powerful narratives about birth and autonomy.

Will you stand with the last midwives?

11/22/2025

Looking for something encouraging and inspiring to listen while you travel this next week? We highly recommend this podcast interview with former MCU faculty member, Dr. Nikia Grayson.

Reposted from
Original caption below.

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Dr. Nikia Grayson, nurse midwife, family nurse practitioner, and anthropologist, joins us to share how she’s helping reclaim and restore Black midwifery in the South. As Chief Clinical Officer at CHOICES Center for Reproductive Health () in Memphis, TN, Dr. Grayson has led groundbreaking efforts to open Memphis’ first and only birth center, launch the nation’s first Black Midwifery Fellowship, and provide full-spectrum, justice-centered reproductive care. In this episode, Dr. Grayson reflects on the challenges of dismantling systemic racism in health care, the impact of the Dobbs decision on abortion access in the South, and the importance of investing in doulas, midwives, and community-based care. Dr. Grayson also offers advice for birth workers on building new systems rooted in justice, joy, and liberation.

🎧 Listen now to the Evidence Based Birth® Podcast:⁠
EBB 371 – Reclaiming Black Midwifery in the South with Dr. Nikia Grayson, Chief Clinical Officer of CHOICES in Memphis

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11/21/2025

One of our students, Gabby, made this beautiful representation of fetal circulation.

Did you know a baby in the womb has different circulation?

It’s a unique system where the placenta provides the fetus with oxygen and nutrients via the umbilical cord, because babies don’t need their lungs to breath yet the fetal lungs are bypassed using three shunts: the ductus venosus, which bypasses the liver; the foramen ovale, these move oxygenated blood from the right to the left atrium of the heart; and the ductus arteriosus, which connects the pulmonary artery to the aorta. The blood largely bypasses the fetal lungs so the shunts allow oxygen-rich blood to be delivered to the brain and heart, and they close shortly after birth as the baby begins to breathe air!

11/19/2025

Our December webinar is approved for 1 CE. We hope you can join us! Suggested fee: $15

Educational Webinar:
Trends of Dieting Systems
(Keto/Vegan/Intermittent fasting) and
Breastfeeding

Thursday, December 4th 12 - 1pm

Speaker: Dr. Shereen Soliman, IBCLC

www.mainebreastfeeds.org/events

11/19/2025

The California infertility insurance mandate: another step toward reproductive justice? https://ow.ly/T4CT50XoYVH

11/19/2025

Such an amazing learning opportunity!!

Registration for GOLD Midwifery Online Conference 2026 is officially open, and we’d love to have you join us. You’ll connect with expert speakers and peers from around the world to dive into the latest midwifery care research.

🗓️ February 2 - May 29, 2026
💻 Unlimited access from wherever you are

Here’s what you can look forward to at our 12th annual event:
🔹Accredited hours for your recertification
🔹Informative, evidence-based lectures on today’s key topics in childbirth care
🔹Live interaction and a welcoming global community

Take a peek at the topics & abstracts: GOLDMidwifery.com/conference/speakers

New to GOLD? Here’s how it works: GOLDMidwifery.com/conference/how-gold-works

Ready to join us? Register here: GOLDMidwifery.com/conference/registration