What Does It Mean to Be a Midwife Today?
I’ve been travelling and mostly unplugged these past weeks, but I keep dipping back into the True Midwifery online community to feel its pulse. And every time, I’m reminded how rare it is to find a space that runs on love, trust, and discernment. It’s not that we all agree. Far from it. We come from different trainings, traditions, and ways of working. But there’s a deep respect for one another’s paths — and in the birth world, that’s something precious. Lately, our upcoming Study Spiral has stirred up some big feelings for me around the topic of modern-day witch hunts. And I keep coming back to this: so often, they are about women not trusting each other. Turning on each other to feel safe, or to keep our footing in a system that doesn’t truly support us. In birth work, it’s the same old pattern — patriarchy’s favourite trick: divide and rule. The Splintering of Our Roles One way this shows up is in the way we’ve created countless “safe” titles so we can be allowed to serve mothers and babies. Birthkeeper. Doula. Traditional Birth Attendant. Once, all of these roles were simply what it meant to be a midwife — a person who stood beside the mother and baby through the threshold of birth. Now, we’ve been split and split and split again. With every division, we’re more restricted, more regulated, more over-specialised… and less able to offer the full, holistic care mothers and babies actually need. A Lesson from the Anamaboya I was reminded of this when I sat with the Anamaboya — the traditional Shona midwives in Zimbabwe. I shared with them the different titles we see nowadays, and they looked at me with quiet confusion, as if I’d just asked for a different word for love, or for water. “What do you call yourselves?” I asked. “Anamaboya,” they said simply. Midwife. Grandmother. Their qualification? Being called to the work by God. A dream.Their gift? Deep humility. Trust in birth. A willingness to learn. The knowledge that their true work is to love the mother. Who Decides? Not long ago, an empirical midwife I met offered me a definition I’ve been holding close: A midwife is a midwife when recognised as such by her community. It’s such a simple sentence, and yet it pulls at so many threads — identity, authority, recognition, belonging. For me, this is not about deciding on one definition. It’s about opening the conversation and letting the questions breathe: Who gets to decide what a midwife is?How does language include… and exclude?And how might our own divisions be keeping us from serving mothers and babies as fully as we could? I’d love to explore these questions together in our upcoming Study Spiral. With love,Ruth Join this month’s Spiral → true-midwifery1.teachable.com/p/true-midwifery-study-spirals Last Spot in the Birth First Aid Course (starting 2...
Read MoreWalking With Birth: Notes from the Road & What’s Next
For just over two weeks now, I’ve been walking a path of travel, connection, and learning—first to the Czech Republic, then to southern Spain. It’s been a journey full of beauty, remembering, and meeting birth workers who hold this work close to their hearts. In the Czech Republic, I taught the Birth First Aid Course at Umeni Babictví (The Art of Midwifery) school. The days were full and deeply connecting, and we closed our time together with a collaborative song circle with Katcha—a soulful evening of women honouring birth through voice, presence, and warmth. I then travelled to Da a Luz Oasis, a community and traditional midwifery school I last visited over a decade ago. It felt like coming home. I reconnected with old friends and finally met some of the beautiful souls I’ve come to know through our online circles. The nearby river’s cool waters, the sunlit days—it’s been a blessing. Today I am travelling to Malaga, preparing for another Birth First Aid course (yes, there’s still space if you’re nearby and feeling called!). And soon I’ll return home to Cape Town, to winter’s invitation: to hibernate, be close to my family, and create from stillness. And here’s what’s coming next… Study Spiral: Breech Births with Joy Horner 26 June 2025 | 11:00–14:00 SASTA deep and rich learning space with UK birthkeeper and former midwife Joy Horner. Through stories and images, Joy shares decades of experience supporting breech births in a world that often says, “You can’t.” This is for anyone wanting to understand the real skill, strength, and stories behind physiological breech birth. More info & booking here » Self Sufficiency in Childbirth For Pregnant Couples | July 2025 | Thursdays via ZoomA 4-part online course for couples who want to birth with inner clarity, shared vision, and practical wisdom. We’ll create a space of connection, courage, and care—together. Full details & booking form » Online Birth First Aid Course (September 2025 – January 2026) Join us from wherever you are for this beloved course on supporting birth safely and wisely. From helping babies breathe to handling bleeding and breech births, we weave skill, story, and stillness into this global circle of learners. Register or learn more » Wherever you are on your journey, I hope to meet you in one of these spaces—or somewhere down the road. With love and respect,RuthTrue...
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