In this episode of Woman, Period., Samantha Rose and Zuri Snow dissect the nuances of modern home birth culture and how to choose the right birth team for you. Whether you want a midwife, birth keeper, or some other kind of wise-woman support for your upcoming birth, this episode is a great place to start in navigating the interviewing and hiring process.

We dive into:

-history of midwifery (the genocide of the true midwives, and how the modern medicalization and legalization of midwifery is rooted in colonialism)

-midwifery as a frequency, not a career

-nuances and complexities of modern midwifery and licensing

-different types of midwives and birth keepers  

-energetic frequency is more important than title and words (and how to discern it)

-dissecting our subconscious beliefs around birth, and decolonizing our minds

-embodiment, nervous system regulation, and intuition strengthening as preparation for birth & choosing your right birth team 

-logistically how to find aligned local birth support

-an intuitive, soul connection approach to choosing birth support 

-the RIGHT questions to ask when vetting birth support (not the questions you’d expect) 

-frequency work in birth preparation and support team selection 

-how to prevent a “bait and switch” situation with a midwife

Resources: 

Book: Witches, Midwives and Nurses: A History of Women Healers by Barbara Ehrenreich and Deirdre English

⁠Blog: Midwife Interview: Basic Question & Answers ⁠

Check out our previous episodes, like "Birth as a Rite of Passage" 

Zuri’s website: ⁠www.mamabearth.com⁠

Zuri’s IG: @mamabearth

Samantha’s website: ⁠www.wholeheartedatl.com⁠ 

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Special thanks to my dear friend Chris Nabile for creating the music for our show. Reach out to hire him for your musical needs at [email protected]. He'll create custom music for your own podcast, or play live for ceremonies and events.

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Woman, Period. is a collection of stories and musings - from women, for women.

Together we explore the taboo, the sacred, the ancient, & the scientific;

all within the realms of sovereign womanhood.

Woman, Period. recognizes and celebrates the wise woman archetype within us all.

Grab a cup of tea, take a seat in our circle, and together we'll remember what it means to be Woman.

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As always, thank you for keeping an open mind and heart during our conversations here. Feel free to take with you whatever resonates, and leave behind whatever doesn’t. Please keep in mind, this is a collection fo stories, theoretical and archetypal anecdotes about the mystical and mysterious nature of womanhood. We are not intending to give any sort of professional, medical, or therapeutic advice, and nothing we say should be thought of as such.