I am not currently working as a midwife. But I am always a midwife.

I recently read ‘So Good They Can’t Ignore You’, which I can’t really say I recommend, but when I read this line I thought about my work as a midwife, ” A job, in Wrzesniewski’s formulation, is a way to pay the bills, a career is a path toward increasingly better work, and a calling is work that’s an important part of your life and a vital part of your identity.” I’ve always thought of ‘a calling’ as something akin to religion, used for professions  in the church. Yet when I read this line, I identified strongly with it. Midwifery, for me, is a way to pay the bills, create a career and is also a vital part of my identity.

Healthcare is a patriarchal system that relies on the power of the doctor to make decisions and the powerless patient to obey them. Midwifery runs counter to this; it is a profession that is rooted in partnering with women, listening to women, and caring for women by meeting them where they are. Not all women will give birth, not all women want to/should/can be mothers. But all women, at some point, need healthcare. All women need to be listened to, validated and supported when they seek healthcare. Which is why midwifery is for everyone.

The word midwife can bring up a lot of different connotations, reflections of varying levels of training and different philosophies. And the actual work that midwives do also varies pretty significantly around the world. I was often surprised at the level of care that midwives were asked to provide in Tanzania. There were many times, both when giving a lecture  in the classroom and while working at the hospital, that I wanted to say “Now would be a good time to call the specialist.” But the specialist is often not available and midwives are left to manage complex tasks with few resources. I say that not to glamorize or condemn this, just to report on the reality of the situation.

Some of the most meaningful ‘midwifing’ of my life occurred while teaching in Tanzania. I also found it to be one of the most challenging things I’ve ever done professionally. Watching the students grow throughout the course of the year, from awkwardly standing around in the hospital scared of laboring women moaning in pain, to walking up to the women and offering them support, closing a curtain to provide privacy, and recognizing when things were abnormal and needed improvement; those were some of the greatest joys of my year. I’ve always thought, in the abstract, that teaching is a meaningful thing to do. But actively participating in it and playing a role in students growing into individuals who also care about offering women support, respect and validation- this moved the meaning from abstract into reality. This, to me, will change the world.

As midwives, we get to intimately engage in creating new structures in healthcare and the world, where women are supported, uplifted and offered space to thrive. We get front row seats to watch, and create, a revolution.

*all the students in these photos gave their consent for these photos to be taken sand shared.