My profession is one of the first mentioned in the Bible. Exodus chapter one has lots to say about midwives, and our responsibility to God and to the families we serve taking priority over the laws of Pharoah. It also mentions that God rewarded the midwives who obeyed him. There are very many midwives who have a strong Christian ethos that is incorporated into the way that they practice. However, I will say that it is very difficult to work within our current health care chaos (I refuse to call it a system) and maintain these values. I had a number of revelations while reading Scott Hahn's book A Father Who Keeps His Promises: God's Covenant Love in Scripture. Ideally, the midwife and the family she serves would see this relationship as more of a sacred covenant than a secular contract. I think that many come into midwifery with this level of idealism and committment. It often does not survive intact. Among the factors that may cause damage are societal and cultural expectations as to who has ultimate responsibility. There is a culture of fear. There is a lack of acceptance of 'unfortunate outcomes'. There is the tendency to assume that the birth attendant is ultimately at fault if there is any problem with the mother or baby.
Midwifery is at great risk in our current culture. There are financial pressures that make it difficult if not impossible for women and their families to choose to have a midwife attend them in birth, especially in some settings. In some areas, the only midwives available practice only at home, or in a birth center, or in a hospital. Midwifery should be avaiIable in all these settings. I long for the day when pro-choice no longer means pro-abortion but speaks to the right of a family to choose where and with whom to give birth. Because the midwives feared God, he made them to prosper. To me this means that I will not prosper, nor will my sister midwives, unless we first fear God. And this means that we must, MUST, obey the natural laws that God set forth. We must eschew support for immorality. We must speak the truth with love to those who seek our care. We must pray, and bless those who curse us, and praise God from whom all blessings flow.
