I recently attended the wedding of my Amish namesake in the Lancaster County, Pennsylvania community that we wrote about in A Midwife’s Story 20 years ago. I once again enjoyed the feeling of being part of something timeless and right. As the women prepared for the wedding, a large gathering of family and community which includes hundreds, I rejoined the conversations I had left behind when I retired. Though Plain women are traditionally shy about pregnancy and birth, there are always side conversations swirling about as groups of women gather to prepare for such weddings, and the funerals, house-centered church, and quiltings. In content these conversations have remained unchanged for generations: the ins and outs of making family within a community deeply rooted in the earth, the desire to preserve privacy and choice in their birthing place, and the well being of mothers and babies.
It was also obvious that in the face of burgeoning technology in all quarters of life, the Plain communities continue to evaluate each new technological invention in terms of its impact on the family. The decisions that the Plain communities make about what to embrace and what to reject, is confusing to those outside the community (yes to a contraption that converts a Mr Coffee to a gas stove-top appliance, and no to computers). It remains confusing because most of the outside world now measures the worth of a new invention by the time it will save them and the work that is avoided. For Plain families, work is a concept that is embraced, and even the smallest child enjoys the satisfaction of doing their part. For women, the work of bringing forth children is an accepted part of their lives, and a way to avoid this work is not a subject of those swirling side conversations.
Considering the rising rate of interventions in obstetrics, and the lack of a concomitant improvement in outcome statistics, perhaps it is time to re-examine what a healthy woman actually needs to give birth. To yet again explore the value for new mothers in that powerful feeling that comes with bringing forth new life, delivering it into the hands of a trusted caregiver, and introducing the newborn to a community that respects and supports the work that goes into making family. In the hopes that the words we crafted some 20 years ago might help frame a small portion of that discussion, we welcome the republication of A Midwife’s Story and A Wise Birth.
Penny Armstrong – August 2006