Midwifery in the Face of Persecution

From the book (released April 30, 2025): "Those That Walk Between Worlds" by Midwife Alyssa

The history of midwifery is intrinsically linked with persecution, suppression, and marginalization. Once honored as the stewards of birth, midwives were gradually replaced by a medical model that treated birth as a pathological event to be managed and controlled. The rise of obstetrics in the 19th and 20th centuries marked the beginning of the systematic removal of midwifery from the mainstream.

The medicalization of birth eroded the traditional knowledge passed down through generations of midwives, turning birth from a natural, personal experience into a clinical, managed event.

The persecution of midwives reached its peak in the early 20th century when they were portrayed as unqualified, unprofessional, and even dangerous. Many midwives were subjected to legal challenges and driven out of practice. In the U.S., midwifery was criminalized, and obstetricians became the sole recognized providers of birth care. This shift was reinforced by the rise of the pharmaceutical and medical industries, which viewed birth as an opportunity for intervention and profit.

Despite this history of marginalization, midwifery has endured. Even today, midwives continue to face legal battles, accusations of malpractice, and societal stigma. In many parts of the world, midwives remain criminalized or forced into underground practices due to restrictive laws.

In the United States, many states are still grappling with the challenge of protecting the rights of midwives while ensuring the safety of mothers and babies. The increasing popularity of home births and out-of-hospital care has sparked new fears among medical professionals, leading to a resurgence of anti-midwifery sentiment and efforts to control midwifery practices.

This new wave of opposition to midwifery is a modern witch hunt – a systematic attempt to push midwives to the margins, delegitimize their practices, and control the narrative around birth. Midwives today face legal hurdles, professional isolation, and increasing pressure to conform to the medical model.

Still, midwifery continues to thrive, its strength rooted in community, tradition, and the unwavering belief in the transformative power of birth.

In 2025, the United States remains one of the most dangerous developed countries in which to give birth. Maternal mortality rates have doubled in the past two decades. Black and Indigenous women are two to three times more likely to die during childbirth than their white counterparts. Over 7 million women live in maternity care deserts – counties without a single obstetric or birth facility.

Midwives hold the solution.

Globally, midwifery-led care is considered the gold standard for physiologic birth. Study after study confirms what our ancestors knew: when low-risk women are cared for by midwives, outcomes improve.

Cesarean rates drop, breastfeeding rates rise, postpartum depression is reduced, and babies and mothers thrive.

Midwives relieve the burden on overcrowded hospitals, serve rural areas, and offer culturally competent care to marginalized communities. They honor birth as a sacred biological process, not a medical pathology.

Despite all of this, we are witnessing a resurgence of midwife persecution, particularly in high-resource settings. Licensure boards are weaponizing bureaucracy against midwives. Online witch hunts and public shaming proliferate. Hospital systems are pushing out community midwives, and student are struggling to find preceptors. The profession remains fractured by scarcity, fear, and trauma passed down from centuries of assault on midwifery wisdom.

Here we stand.

Still catching babies.

Still holding the line.

Still fighting for a birth model rooted in autonomy, knowledge, and respect.

Because we remember.

Because we belong to something older than this system.

Because the world still needs midwives.