When I walked out of my first prenatal with a homebirth midwife, I knew this was something to which everyone should have access. I wanted to find a way to make midwifery care more accessible to the Northern Neck of Virginia. It would be a big task, as the area presents special challenges. The only hospital on the Northern Neck closed its labor and delivery unit in 2004. A standalone birth center opened in 2010, but closed the next year due to financial challenges.

This past year, two labors I attended benefited (meaning we avoided a cesarean each time) from a technique shared over a hundred years ago by Dr. Walcher. The first of these mothers labored for her third homebirth after four previous cesareans. She’d had a hard time getting her first baby into her pelvis (lying in bed) and was given a c-section at 3 cm and then she had three more cesareans in following years. Umm hmm. So, I was honored to help at her first homebirth, her fifth child. He also took a long time to engage. Beginning posterior, a variety of positions eventually got him through. Her second homebirth occurred after a long latent phase but before her midwife arrived.

The maternal mortality rate in the United States is rising. What does that mean to those of us who live in this country?

A touching portrait honoring the memory, legacy and life of midwife Elizabeth Gilmore.