Midwives and Spinning Babies

For those of us who learned midwifery before the late 90s, before the fusion of midwifery education with the homebirth world, before doulas and Penny Simkin’s physical therapy techniques came to the aid of birthing women,
the idea of midwife-directed techniques for labor progress seemed out of step with homebirth. Concern about a baby’s position was sometimes seen as a betrayal of trust in the natural course of birth.

Yet, there is a tradition of midwifery to help women come into their natural attunement with nature. When our culture distorts the alignment of womens’ bodies, by too much sitting, sitting with poor posture, crossing our legs, repeatedly stepping on the car’s accelerator, etc., then it is certainly within the midwives role to help bring attention to the resulting malposition and help give the mother ideas to restore her alignment.

Spinning Babies is the active part of patience.