In Mexico, there are three types of midwives, depending on their educational background. There are about 15,000 traditional midwives, who are empirical in their knowledge. Their knowledge varies from midwife to midwife. They have knowledge of the herbs and cultural birth customs. Many have been trained by the government, and use medical techniques that are outdated. There are nurse midwives who have a more updated medical knowledge, however, have trained in a deficient system. Many do not have a lot of practice for home births. Then there are technical midwives who have trained in the midwifery model of care. They are respectful of traditional practices and updated in medical techniques. Many are still young and just graduating. Also, there are foreign midwives living in Mexico and fighting for homebirth and humanized births.
To choose a midwife it would be really wise to ask her a lot of detailed questions, on how long she has been working, where she trained, who her network of health providers are. In case of emergency what would happen. How many clients she has approximately a month
Midwives have supported women through centuries in many states. Only 2 presidents ago, the government launched a campaign to institutionalize all births and many midwives were affected by this marginalization. However, today the government is realizing that this has not reduced maternal mortality significantly or does it satisfy the women. There is a lot of obstetric violence in the hospitals and the government is reopening a dialogue on how to reinstate their work.
For more information contact Sabrina Speich at Movimiento Osa Mayor or Osa Mayor Mexico.
Surviving Mexico 