Simply put, when there is no home birth in a society, or when home birth is driven completely underground, essential knowledge of women’s capacities in birth is lost to the people of that society—to professional caregivers, as well as to the women of childbearing age themselves.

Many of our problems in US maternity care stem from the fact that we leave no room for recognizing when nature is smarter than we are.

It does a man good to see his lady being brave while she has their baby... it inspires him.

Why should nutrition matter less in the creation of young humans than it does in young plants? I'm sure that it doesn't.

I dreaded having a boring life when I grew up. And I certainly can't complain about being bored.

It would be a mistake, though, to consider care by family doctors or midwives inferior to that offered by obstetricians simply on the grounds that obstetricians need not refer care to a family physician or midwife if no complications develop during a course of labor.

When we as a society begin to value mothers as the givers and supporters of life, then we will see social change in ways that matter.