In 1987, after being a homebirth midwife for over a decade, Jan Tritten began Midwifery Today magazine. At that time, there weren’t many midwifery magazines in the world. Jan believed it was essential because midwifery is one of the most important professions in the world, if not the most important. After all, life is in the balance! We must get the best information to birth practitioners and in a timely manner. We need good midwives, doulas, childbirth educators, doctors, and nurses who understand the art of gentle birth—standing back and encouraging most of the time, but also knowing when to act fast and skillfully if complications occur. Jan’s dream with Midwifery Today was to fill the void with evidence-based birth information in an artistic way, with photos, art, poetry, and regular columns. The original goal was to midwife midwives and now, all these years later, it also includes encouraging and informing doulas, childbirth educators, moms, and anyone else who is passionate about birth!
A primary reason for producing this magazine is to actively promote midwifery. Our name, Midwifery Today, is also our motto. We hope that by the year 2000, when a woman gets pregnant she will think, “I’ve got to find myself a midwife,” in contrast to today’s reflexive, “I’ve got to find myself a doctor.” With only three percent of the nation’s babies currently delivered by midwives, we have a lot of work to do.
—Jan Tritten, Midwifery Today, Issue 1, Winter 1987, Editor’s Page
Since the start of Midwifery Today magazine, a lot has changed because of the internet, and we have had to adjust. We made changes to our business model that would take advantage of the exciting world of technology, and we had to let go of many projects—at least in the ways we used to do them—in order to embrace the way the world works today. Now we have an even more robust and extensive website with many more resources and facets to it. Unfortunately, as part of these changes and with heavy hearts, we needed to discontinue our cherished print magazine and shift to a digital format. After 33 years, the Winter 2019 issue, #132, was our final print issue of Midwifery Today. It just became too expensive to proceed with, as has much of paper printing. Many magazines have had to make this transition or quit altogether. However, because we believe that the world of midwifery and birth still needs us, we made the transition to continue to serve you well with our “best in the world” Midwifery Today magazine.
With our new digital format, we can now offer Midwifery Today Online Memberships. All the collected wisdom from midwives all over the world—passionate, informed women and men with a wealth of knowledge and experience to share—and as close as your computer, smartphone, or tablet. With an online membership, you will have access to hundreds of articles on birth and midwifery. You will be able to read all of the most recent articles from Midwifery Today magazine, as well as many valuable gems from older issues. Also, you will be able to order free PDFs of all issues from 2020 and later, to download for offline reading. (Non-members may purchase these PDFs.)
To learn more and purchase a Midwifery Today Online Membership, please visit midwiferytoday.com/product-category/membership.
If you have issues remaining on your print subscription, you should have received an e-mail from us, explaining what you need to do. If you did not receive that e-mail, please write to marketing@midwiferytoday.com and we will help you.
Note: The featured image at the top of this web page is a collage of all the printed Midwifery Today magazine covers (132 total) in chronological order.
