And Still, Why I Do This Work

This has not been an easy winter. Have you noticed?

Of course, you have! I don't need to make the list. Everyone in my world has been unusually jittery, or, at least working on being calm and staying faithful that it is all under control (It is, of course). For midwives this translates to hesitation. Potentials clients hesitate to commit money and time even when they know a good homebirth is what they want and what they need. Or, they start in that direction and then decide that, actually, they don't have any option but to do whatever medicaid will cover In Missouri, that is not us!And, in Missouri, a truly alarming number of mothers and families are medicaid eligible!

It makes me very sad when I lose folks to medicaid. In some (more enlightened) states, homebirth midwives not only take medicaid, they are required to provide care for medicaid covered clients as a certain percentage of the practice. It makes an interesting difference in who gets to do what, who gets the education, the much needed cintinuous attention, and all the rest of the things that go into midwifery care. It is not surprising that those states have much better statistics that Missouri does.

I wondered how I was going to do this! I didn't want, on a midwifery blog, to rant about war, and billionaires, and all the people losing their benefits. But, an access to care issue?!? We cut our teeth on that!

Without a long, boring discussion of all of the social determinants of who gets what, let me say this. I take care of parents, and of babies, and of families. I also teach midwifery students so that this kind of care will not die away. i charge as much as any other midwife, more than some. AND, I have a sliding scale that I am pretty fiesty about. I will also barter in certain instances. I have accepted a motorcycle, an electric guitar, a bunch of work on my house, and, on occasion, nothing at all until much, much later. This is important, holy work - and people pay their midwives. Only twice in a couple of thousand births can I call to mind times when the other side of the agreement was not honored.

If you are curious about home birth with Dancing Horizons, call me! If you have your doula and your photographer already standing by, and lots of ideas about what you would like, great!! If you don't have the proverbial pot to piss in (Would that not be a horrible way to make your money??), call me anyway. You are not automatically ruled out as long as you are reasonably healthy, in a safe social situation, and able to do a few basic thing (or do them with our help). If you want a homebirth, you should have one! It w ill make you happy, and it will be so goood for your family!

I titled the last point on my outline "What makes me happy". That would be the sweet babies tucked into bed nursing after the birth while everyone soaks in the bliss of what just happened!

This guy is a couple of hours old. He has nurse, in the pool as it happened, and then been handed off to be held by moi while the other midwife got the mother out and into the shower. Isn;t he georgous?