07/29/2025
Dear elder midwives,
You were the ones who walked this road before we even knew there was one to follow.
You held the thread when it was unraveling.
When midwifery was silenced, criminalized, or hidden - you kept it alive.
You stood at births when the world told you not to.
You learned from experience, from blood, from instinct-
from whispered stories passed hand to hand, heart to heart.
You were here before midwifery was trending or hashtagged.
Before politics and policies shaped every choice -
you were there with your hands, your heart, your wisdom, and your deep knowing.
You taught us that while clinical skills are essential - lifesaving, even -
they are not the whole of midwifery.
Midwifery is also a lineage.
A remembering.
A fierce and holy walk between worlds.
You carried what others could not see -
the weight of impossible choices, the shadow of challenging births,
the sting of scrutiny, and the ache of holding it all together without always being held yourself.
You gave your body to this work -
your sleep, your bones, your fire, your joy, your tears, and sometimes your freedom.
Your family gave too - missing pieces of you while you gave pieces to others.
And still, you returned, again and again.
Some taught with open hearts.
You welcomed students into your homes, your births, your lives -
even when the culture encouraged competition over kinship.
You extended your hand instead of your judgment.
You chose to hold your sisters, not slander them.
Not everyone did.
But you did.
And that changed everything.
The ripples of that choice stretch far beyond what you can see -
into our hands, our care, our births,
and into the generations yet to come.
For this - we thank you.
Humanity thanks you.
You showed us that strength isn’t in hierarchy, but in humility.
That real midwives don’t eat their young - they embrace them, and build them up.
Even though midwifery sometimes looks a little different now-
with new tools, new language, new landscapes -
we are still holding the same sacred thread.
Still standing at the same threshold.
Still guided by the same fierce love.
You’ve learned, when the time comes,
to place the weight of this calling
into the hands of those rising behind you -
not to retreat, but to release with trust.
Not to let go, but to pass on.
The wisdom carried through time, unbroken.
A thread woven through generations.
A flame tended through seasons.
A sacred trust passed through time.
You are not stepping aside.
You are anchoring the circle in a new way.
We still need your voice.
We still look to your eyes for grounding.
We still carry your stories as part of our own.
Thank you for staying through the hardest seasons.
Thank you for choosing mentorship over gatekeeping.
Thank you for reminding us that midwifery is not a competition-
it’s a lineage, a devotion, a living thread between generations.
When it is our turn to place the thread in new hands,
may we remember how gently you placed it in ours.
May grace guide us, as it did you.
With reverence, memory, and unending gratitude -
A sister in this sacred circle.
