One of my favorite things about being a midwife is...
One of my favorite things about being a midwife is... ... realizing the strength and power of vaginas.... an excited parent's held breath and cries at first hearing their baby's heartbeat.... laughing with my patients.... experienced nurses crying during beautiful births.... hearing that she is so comfortable with me and my care that she needs to tell me something she has never told anyone before.... supporting breastfeeding.... having a spare moment or two to discuss sexual pleasure.... advocating for evidence-based care.... reading notes from my collaborator that recommend "Coochie Cream" for shaving irritation.... finding someone the perfect birth control method for their needs and lifestyle.... talking about cleaning sex toys. Really, talking about sex toys at all.... crying with my patients.... introducing a menopausal woman to lubricant.... birth.... watching a baby visibly dance around in the belly, and the clinic staff ooh-ing and aah-ing with the mom-to-be.... the water breaking during pushing, and the baby coming out on a wave.... a woman telling me she did not know a pap smear could be without pain.... teaching how to use the female condom.... seeing her every three months for her Depo shot, and having regular updates on her life: successes, frustrations, changes, and goals.... advocating for effective, long-active reversible contraceptives.... my Centering Pregnancy groups.... talking about consent and partner communication with teenage women.... sweeping membranes and seeing her the next day at the hospital in spontaneous, active labor.... being with my own patients during their labor and birth.... women teaching me something new.... teaching IUD self-string checks.... the mom and toddler pair who lay next to each other on the exam table when it's time to listen to the fetal heart tones.... someone asking me what I do, and saying that I am the first person they have ever met who is a midwife.... the great comments people leave on this website, or on Facebook, or on Twitter, in support of my feminist or midwife writing.... my constant search to be better, to know more, and constantly love what I do.... hearing how excited a woman is about her new partner, or her job, or her pregnancy, or her family's growth.... supportively guiding a woman with an unwanted pregnancy through her termination and after care.... when the mother grabs for her baby as it is born.... leaving the clinic or the hospital, smiling....everything.