04/11/2026
“But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the male children alive.”
Exodus 1:17 NKJV
The first act of civil disobedience recorded in the Bible was committed by midwives.
Let me tell you their story.
In Exodus 1, we meet Shiphrah and Puah, two Hebrew midwives living under Egyptian oppression. Pharaoh, afraid of the growing Hebrew population, gave them a direct order: kill every Hebrew baby boy at birth.
These midwives said no.
They defied the most powerful man in Egypt. They risked their own lives to protect the babies they were called to serve. They looked Pharaoh in the face and lied to him, telling him the Hebrew women were too strong, too vigorous, that the babies were born before the midwives could even arrive.
And because of their courage, an entire generation of Hebrew boys lived. Including Moses, who would eventually lead his people to freedom.
The Bible says: “So God was kind to the midwives… And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.” (Exodus 1:20-21)
God honored their courage. Their defiance. Their protection of life in the face of authoritarian power. Thousands of years later, midwives are still fighting. Not against genocide, thank God. But against systems and policies that try to control how, where, and with whom women can give birth. We fight for a woman’s right to choose homebirth when it’s safe for her, informed consent instead of coerced interventions, bodily autonomy in birth spaces, access to physiologic birth instead of routine intervention, and the freedom to birth without unnecessary interference. We stand between families and systems that don’t always have their best interests at heart.
Just like Shiphrah and Puah, midwives today protect families’ rights to make their own choices about their bodies and their births. We push back against policies that restrict birth options. We advocate for informed consent when providers pressure unnecessary interventions. We honor women’s autonomy even when it’s countercultural. We believe that families, not institutions, should be the decision-makers in birth. This is sacred work. Not just catching babies. But protecting the fundamental right of families to choose how they bring their children into the world.
Shiphrah and Puah set the standard thousands of years ago: midwives serve families, not systems. We protect life and honor autonomy, even when authorities tell us otherwise. And just like God honored those ancient midwives for their courage, we trust that standing for families’ rights is exactly where we’re called to be.
“The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live.” - Exodus 1:17
