The Ultimate Heresy (And What Came of It)

Yes, my birthy friends... I have committed the ultimate heresy. I did indeed.

I changed midwives. And I lived to tell about it.

A year or two ago, if anyone had told me that I would ever birth with anyone other than our first midwife, I probably would have shot first and asked questions later. To say that we loved our wonderful first midwife would be a miserable understatement. We bonded for life at our first meeting, and the subsequent five years (during which she attended the birth of our first two babies) only deepened that bond and the deep and loving friendship that we had - and still have - with her.

I never imagined changing. Ever.

But when our newest babe rolled into town, the truth hit us - that due to logistical factors, as well as various timing issues (none of which had to do with our first midwife's character, skills, or qualifications)  - we were not going to be able to have her attend our little one's pregnancy and birth.

For anyone who has bonded with her midwife, this is a tragedy!

But I am here to say that we lived through the experience, and that it had a happy ending. After several interviews, we chose as our next midwife a women whom I have known many years through the birth community, and who is an eminently competent midwife, as well as a wonderful woman in general. After getting used to the feeling of seeing someone who was not our first midwife, we had a spectacular time getting to know her and her student and deepening the friendship that we already had with her. She was an absolutely awesome midwife, and our experience was wonderful.

And so, after doing the unthinkable, life continues on... and we have learned that we can indeed love more than one midwife. We love and respect our first midwife and enjoy getting to see her when we can - not nearly often enough! - and we love and respect our second midwife, and love the time that we got to spend with her during this pregnancy and birth.

Homebirth midwives are just awesome. Thank you for being the amazing group of women that you are, and for serving birthing women with all of the love that you do!

Dedicated to my awesome midwives - all of them!