Birth Matters... It matters because it is the way we all begin our lives outside of our source, our mother's bodies. It's the means from which we enter and feel our first impression of the wider world. For each mother, it is an event that shakes and shapes her to her innermost core. Women's perceptions about their bodies and their babies' capabilities will be deeply influenced by the care they receive around the time of birth.
Ina May GaskinThe way a culture treats women in birth is a good indicator of how well women and their contributions to society are valued and honored.
Ina May GaskinI think midwifery was developed by people with common sense, people who were close to nature, and people who observed other species of mammals and saw that there were lessons there to be learned.
Ina May GaskinWhen you destroy midwives, you also destroy a body of knowledge that is shared by women, that canโt be put together by a bunch of surgeons or a bunch of male obstetricians, because physiologically, birth doesnโt happen the same way around surgeons, medically trained doctors, as it does around sympathetic women.
Ina May Gaskin