Pretty pumped this week, and for a somewhat nerdy reason: I’m going Friday night to hear Ina May Gaskin speak.
“Who?” you ask? Um, only the mother of modern-day midwifery! A master in her time; a guru for today. To quote her history from Wikipedia “In 1971 Gaskin, with her husband Stephen, founded a commune called The Farm in Summertown Tennessee. There, she and the midwives of the Farm created The Farm Midwifery Center, one of the first out-of-hospital birth centers in the United States.”
She’s coming to our corner of the world thanks to the Vesta Parenting shop, right here in my home town. They are hosting the “Birth and Beyond” conference in London this weekend.
Oh wait, you mean I haven’t yet shared my two secret alternate career ambitions? Well, the 1st is a back-up dancer to a pop star, and I’m pretty sure I missed the boat on that one. Besides, Zumba classes do a half-decent job of filling that urge…The 2nd is to be a midwife. This one might even be a realistic career option, although the very thought of going back to school and keeping the hours of a midwife makes me bone-tired. So there’s that…The idea of a career where you empower a mother-to-be with information and basic care, and then to be an integral part of an event that she will relive forever. Hubby dismissed the thought because he knows what I’m like around a lot of blood. But still…
The next best thing to actually being something is to read about someone who is. I’ve already read two books, both of which I’d recommend:
And now I’m going to the talk. I can only imagine the kind of inspiration you can draw from being in the presence of someone who really knows her stuff. And imagine the stories she has! All that intimacy from witnessing such a raw, emotional, exhausting event that is, in the end, a common part of life.
Graphic designer. Daughter. Ex-engineer. Sister. Wife. Mom to three. Obsessed with colour. 
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