Issue 143

Autumn 2022

Theme: Induction: Why? Why Not?

Birth has its own timetable, but too often professionals want to speed it up, sometimes for the wrong reasons such as not having to work on a weekend or night. Our writers for this issue discuss various perspectives on induction.

Cover photo by Esther Edith (estheredith.com). Esther has served as a birth photographer, videographer, and doula for the last nine years. She recently stepped back from the birth world, but continues to share her beautiful work with us. Esther grew up in India, and recently started a chai business, chaigardenshop.com. She includes special blends for pregnancy and postpartum.

Pictured: Dad delights in his new daughter. Lifestyle Newborn photography by Esther Edith.

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Columns

• Poem: To Birth a Child, by David B. Such
• From the Editor: Support Midwifery Today
  Midwifery Today is going through hard times our editor asks for your help.
• Marion’s Message: Marion’s Message: Midwifery as a Gift
  Regular columnist shares her experience with first catching a baby and how that led to a career as a midwife.
• Tricks of the Trade
• Quote of the Quarter
• Media Reviews
• Midwifery and Childbirth News
• Photo Album

Features

• Induction of Labor—Why or Why Not? by Sarita Bennett
  The author describes how “the obstetric myth” which posits birth as an emergency and the Ob as the rescuer has caused us to stray so far from normalized birth.
• Calling All Midwives…. by Deb Puterbaugh
  This article is a call to arms for midwives to help us move away from the normalization of induction, which has been brought about by obstetricians and their reliance on such myths as due date, Friedman’s Curve, Bishop Score and other methods used to mechanize birth.
• Understanding the Phase of Human Birth Preparation, by Michel Odent
  Dr. Odent discusses the conclusions of recent studies suggesting that the importance of the short phase of “physiological birth preparation” is underestimated, explicating some of the physiological changes that take place.
• Induction: A Loaded Word, by Vicki Ziemer
  Using her experience working with pregnant and birthing women, the author explains the importance of treating women with dignity and not relying on induction when it is not needed.
• Gather the Wimyn! by Sister MorningStar
  Women have knowledge about their own births. Sister describes gatherings of women in Village Prenatals and other ways to carry on their instinctive knowledge.
• A Short Interview on Induction With Gail Hart, by Jan Tritten
• To Induce or Not to Induce? That is the Question, by Jane Beal
  Using a case example, this article contrasts natural oxytocin with synthetic oxytocin and the difference in care between midwives and ACOG-recommended care, while taking into the consideration psychological effects of induction.
• Ophelia’s Surrendered Birth, by Lois Wilson
  A lovely story about an empowering homebirth after a cesarean.
• Wisdom of the Midwives: Induction

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