Welcome to the 27th episode of the Back to Human Podcast.
On this episode we explore the world of midwifery and what birth can look like outside of conventional medicine. During Jade’s pregnancy, we elected to have an assisted home birth with a midwife. Things did not go as planned for us and Jade was transferred to the hospital where she was able to give birth to Jax, vaginally and unmedicated. Reflecting back on Jade’s pregnancy and labor, it seemed there was many tests, screenings and even coaching that may have been unnecessary and perhaps even harmful.
For this interview I had the pleasure of speaking with Whapio Diane Bartlett. Whapio has been an Independent Midwife for 42 years, practicing and teaching about the consciousness of birth. Whapio believes, “The way we give birth is a mirror of our maturity on this planet. If we understood the magnitude of birth and our potential for transformation through birth we would organically raise our level of consciousness and all the inappropriate things we do would just disappear.”
Some of the topics we discuss on this include:
• Whapio’s introduction to midwifery
• What is a midwife?
• The difference between clinical and independent midwifery
• What do women want in a pregnancy?
• Who should you be giving birth with?
• What is an undisturbed birth?
• The role of the father in birth
• The vagina being a portal
• The male manifesto of birth
• How can we collaborate with hospital staff?
• Should women push during labor?
• What is the illusion of choice in holistic midwifery?
• How birth is a rite of passage and this has been taken away from women
• What tests & screenings are actually necessary throughout pregnancy?
• How can women find an independent midwife?
Thank you for the listening to the show! I’d love to hear your feedback and would much appreciate you sharing this episode with someone you believe would benefit from hearing it!
If you are interested in learning more about Whapio’s work you can find her on Instagram at: https://instagram.com/whapio_and_thematrona?igshid=NzZhOTFlYzFmZQ==
or visit her website:
https://www.thematrona.com
