Complex History

As a mother of three, former doula, and active Catholic, I've long felt the disconnection between birthing and faith. However, it's too easy to say that medical institutions silenced women ("Reclaiming Childbirth"). Women themselves advocated for "twilight sleep"; seeking to make childbirth safer and less painful, they embraced the perceived benefits of "science" throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, although certainly the emerging medical profession did all it could to suppress midwifery.

Peg Conway
Cincinnati, Ohio