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By FRANCES BISHOPP
Rappahannock News Staff Writer
Some view it as controversial, even dangerous, others as the most natural way on earth to experience one of life’s most important rites of passage.
Whatever your beliefs, midwifery, despite a long history of persecution, has been practiced since the beginning of time and continues to be practiced today.
The need for midwives frequently is created by the community. Women seek them out as a viable option to having their babies in a hospital where the environment, they say. is often cold, clinical and terrifying.
While there is no question that the sophisticated equipment and skills found only in a hospital are necessary, lifesaving in some situations, there are those who believe that a number of births can be successfully accomplished at home where the woman, under the care of an experienced midwife, can have her baby naturally, in surroundings that induce trust and confidence rather than fear and alienation.
Martha Hughes and Sheila Simms Watson are both traditional mid wives who between them have delivered more than 200 babies in the last eight years. Both women live in Rappahannock County, but travel far beyond the county limits to administer to clients who have made.the choice to have their babies at home.
Ms. Hughes, who has delivered 157 babies since she began practicing eight years ago, -spent a considerable amount of time as an apprentice before she launched out on her own. According to Ms. Hughes and Ms. Watson, who has been practicing for three years ami has delivered 47 babies, this is normal procedure.
“I don’t deliver these babies,” Mrs. Hughes pointed out. “I am there to help the mother deliver her own baby.”
“Giying birth is an incredibly empowering experience for a woman,” she continued. “We are therp to educate the mothers, from the Very first
visit to well after the B^by is born.”
“We not only educate our clients on every aspect of their pregnancy, we teach them exactly what to expect when their time comes,” she said.
The education begins when the woman who has decided on a homebirth visits the midwife for the first time. On the first visit, the client is thoroughly examined and all aspects of the pregnancy are discussed.
At 30 weeks, the visits go to once every two weeks and the last month, every week. During the last month, the midwife visits the client’s home to make sure, first of all, she knows how to get there and to check out the home environment to see that it is properly prepared for the birth.
It is during the months preceding the birth that the midwife and her
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