27 Mar
Midwifery As A Calling?
Did you know that in the early days of the LDS Church women were called to be midwives? I’d never heard that before! (If you don’t know what a calling is, click here.)
Valerie sent me a link to Midwifery as Calling - Guest Post by HeatherLady yesterday and if you are LDS, or interested in birth, and especially if both of those describe you, I think it’s a fascinating read.
I don’t think this in any way suggests that birthing with a midwife is better than with a doctor, or that God wants it to be a certain way (obviously this was a product of the time period) but it is a really beautiful thing to think that women were called up to become deliverers of babies that would help the very young church grow during that time. If you aren’t familiar with LDS history, the early church members were persecuted, hunted down, and driven out of their homes in the east, forced to move west to Utah. Resources like doctors and hospitals would have been extremely scarce for many years after they arrived, and so calling midwives through the priesthood makes sense.
The need for midwives in the newly established Zion was so great that in each Ward, the Relief Society would nominate two women to be trained and set apart as midwives for the women of the ward. These prospective midwives would usually travel to a place where Dr. Shipp, or another traveling doctor, was holding a temporary midwifery clinic. Since the time commitment was great-at least three months, and the cost very expensive (the cost the book was $20, which was a small fortune back then), the Relief Society of each ward would pay for their books and then feed and watch over their husbands and children while they were away. -HeatherLady
T1 a few minutes after his midwife attended homebirth via http://kellinicolephotography.com/
Thanks for the link Valerie! Did anyone else know about this?
I'm a farm-raised almost-crunchy stroller-pushing picture-taking lifestyle-blog-writing gastronomy-obsessed divine-seeking thrift-store-combing cheese-inhaling pavement-pounding laughter-sprinkling lover of individuality and taking chances.
I’m so glad you liked the link! I thought it was a really, really fascinating story!
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1Wow, fascinating.
I know birth used to be something that was definitely attended to by women. Fathers in the delivery room is relatively new (less than 50 years, I think - at least from what my mom says, it was a big deal that my dad was in the delivery room)
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2I had no idea - but it’s pretty cool! It’s from a time when taking care of people in the community was something people just did, instead of a business.
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3i have heard that before! that would be a calling i would love!
my son was born at home 6 months ago. it was the most beautiful day of my life. i was planning my homebirth before you posted your story, but it was so helpful to read your blog posts about your experience while i was pregnant. not many people are willing to share as much as you did, so thank you!
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4I remember learning about this in my class at BYU (LDS Women’s History) and while I worked at the BYU WRI. I was thinking about a girl I worked with while I was there who was particular interested in this topic… then I clicked over to the link and realized it was the same girl
Small world! Great article by both of you!
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5Mormons were actually also at the forefront of the women’s doctors movement - Brigham Young believed strongly that women should go see women doctors, and so LDS women were encouraged to attend medical school. I learned about this when I did a report on pioneer women in medicine. There was generally a shortage of doctors and healthcare providers in the west, which created opportunities for women and people of color to become physicians as well. It’s really a fascinating history.
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