The Midwives Voice

11/22/2025

Looking for something encouraging and inspiring to listen while you travel this next week? We highly recommend this podcast interview with former MCU faculty member, Dr. Nikia Grayson.

Reposted from
Original caption below.

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Dr. Nikia Grayson, nurse midwife, family nurse practitioner, and anthropologist, joins us to share how she’s helping reclaim and restore Black midwifery in the South. As Chief Clinical Officer at CHOICES Center for Reproductive Health () in Memphis, TN, Dr. Grayson has led groundbreaking efforts to open Memphis’ first and only birth center, launch the nation’s first Black Midwifery Fellowship, and provide full-spectrum, justice-centered reproductive care. In this episode, Dr. Grayson reflects on the challenges of dismantling systemic racism in health care, the impact of the Dobbs decision on abortion access in the South, and the importance of investing in doulas, midwives, and community-based care. Dr. Grayson also offers advice for birth workers on building new systems rooted in justice, joy, and liberation.

🎧 Listen now to the Evidence Based Birth® Podcast:⁠
EBB 371 – Reclaiming Black Midwifery in the South with Dr. Nikia Grayson, Chief Clinical Officer of CHOICES in Memphis

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11/21/2025

One of our students, Gabby, made this beautiful representation of fetal circulation.

Did you know a baby in the womb has different circulation?

It’s a unique system where the placenta provides the fetus with oxygen and nutrients via the umbilical cord, because babies don’t need their lungs to breath yet the fetal lungs are bypassed using three shunts: the ductus venosus, which bypasses the liver; the foramen ovale, these move oxygenated blood from the right to the left atrium of the heart; and the ductus arteriosus, which connects the pulmonary artery to the aorta. The blood largely bypasses the fetal lungs so the shunts allow oxygen-rich blood to be delivered to the brain and heart, and they close shortly after birth as the baby begins to breathe air!

11/19/2025

Our December webinar is approved for 1 CE. We hope you can join us! Suggested fee: $15

Educational Webinar:
Trends of Dieting Systems
(Keto/Vegan/Intermittent fasting) and
Breastfeeding

Thursday, December 4th 12 - 1pm

Speaker: Dr. Shereen Soliman, IBCLC

www.mainebreastfeeds.org/events

11/19/2025

The California infertility insurance mandate: another step toward reproductive justice? https://ow.ly/T4CT50XoYVH

11/19/2025

Such an amazing learning opportunity!!

Registration for GOLD Midwifery Online Conference 2026 is officially open, and we’d love to have you join us. You’ll connect with expert speakers and peers from around the world to dive into the latest midwifery care research.

🗓️ February 2 - May 29, 2026
💻 Unlimited access from wherever you are

Here’s what you can look forward to at our 12th annual event:
🔹Accredited hours for your recertification
🔹Informative, evidence-based lectures on today’s key topics in childbirth care
🔹Live interaction and a welcoming global community

Take a peek at the topics & abstracts: GOLDMidwifery.com/conference/speakers

New to GOLD? Here’s how it works: GOLDMidwifery.com/conference/how-gold-works

Ready to join us? Register here: GOLDMidwifery.com/conference/registration

11/19/2025

11/19/2025

NYTimes Letter to the Editor ✒️

Many of you may have already seen the NY Times article "The ‘Worst Test in Medicine’ is Driving America’s High C-Section Rate" (https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/06/health/electronic-fetal-monitoring-c-sections.html?unlocked_article_code=1.108.XT6J.Y2YuWc0Xc01e&smid=url-share ).
AABC sent a Letter to the Editor in response! Since our letter did not get published, we wanted to share it with you all here.
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Dear Editor,

Thank you for highlighting the overreliance on continuous electronic fetal monitoring (EFM) and its role in rising Cesarean rates.

There is a solution to this epidemic. Midwifery-led birth centers use intermittent fetal monitoring instead of continuous EFM. They are an evidence-based model that delivers outcomes comparable to those of the top nations globally by offering holistic, family-centered care that protects and empowers patients, thereby enhancing both physical and mental well-being in our community.

Birth centers are fully integrated into the healthcare system and guided by principles of prevention, safety, appropriate medical intervention, and cost-effectiveness. While midwifery care can occur elsewhere, birth centers are unique in offering this dedicated, physiologic model.
Outcomes speak for themselves:
-Cesarean rates under 6%
-NICU admissions less than half the national average
-Low rates of interventions with superior overall outcomes

These results demonstrate the clinical excellence and fiscal prudence of the birth center model, reducing complications and costs while maintaining world-standard safety, lowering maternal mortality risk, and prioritizing maternal autonomy and satisfaction.

Respectfully,
Kate Bauer
Executive Director
American Association of Birth Centers
Perkiomenville, PA

11/19/2025

Research tells us that transgender people report higher prevalence of su***de attempts over their lifetime, than LGB or straight people.💙

So, we want to remind you that you are not alone. If you’re struggling or want to connect with a trusted mental health professional, call or text 988, or text TALK to 741741.

11/18/2025

AIMS was pleased to be able to submit stakeholder comments on the update to the Waterbirth section of the NICE Intrapartum Care guideline. We hope this new guidance will help support informed decision making and overcome the "reticence to offering waterbirth in obstetric units" identified in the POOL study. See AIMS comment
https://www.aims.org.uk/campaigning/item/nice-waterbirth

11/18/2025