Our guest today is "Birth Attendant", Jaymie Lewis who shares her insight into Hawaii's birthing world. Blyss & Dr. Stu chime in on the creeping blob that is the administrative state and wonder when the last time a regulation made things better.

About Jaymie Lewis:

Jaymie is a mother of three children all born at her residence In Hawaii. The birth of her 1st child brought her into birth work in 2010 when she began an apprenticeship with two different naturopathic physicians and a CPM. She started an independent midwifery practice in 2014 attending anywhere from 40-60 births per year. She joined several other midwives across the islands igniting strong activism regarding REAL choices in childbirth. In 2017 she helped create Hawaii Home Birth Collective which is an advocacy organization dedicated to expansion of midwifery care and to the preservation and integration of traditional and indigenous practices of the childbearing cycle. The long arm of the medical industrial complex swept in and deemed her a “birth attendant” in 2019 because she did not have any “formal” education” and as of last July has been pushed out of practice due to Hawaii’s restrictive midwifery law. Jaymie is a dreamer, a realistic optimist, and a lifetime learner, knowing that when there is compression, there is also an opportunity for infinite expansion.

Key highlights:

• Home Births and Midwifery Regulations
• Bureaucracy and Midwifery Laws
• Challenges and Barriers in Midwifery
• The Impact of Standardization on Midwifery
• Laws and Colonialism in Hawaii

Episode resources:

• Join our Patreon! patreon.com/birthinginstinctspodcast
• hihbc.org
• pacificbirthcollective.org
• Article: ‘Medical colonialism’: midwives sue Hawaii over law regulating Native birth workers
• Article: U.S. home births hit 30-year high

This show is supported by:

• LMNT | Go to drinklmnt.com/birthinginstincts to get a free sample pack with every order
• BIRTHFIT | Go to birthfit.com and use the code INSTINCTS1 for a discount on the Basics Prenatal program, or INSTINCTS2 for a discount on the Basics Postpartum program.
• Christian Hypnobirthing | Go to christianhypnobirthing.com/birthinginstincts to get 30% off Christian Hypnobirthing's Faith-Filled Childbirth course

Connect with Dr. Stu & Blyss:

• Instagram: @birthinginstincts / @birthingblyss
• Website: birthinginstincts.com / birthingblyss.com
• Email: [email protected] 
• Call-in line: 805-399-0439
• Podcast webpage: birthinginstinctspodcast.com