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In this episode with Mary Lou Singleton, we explore her lifelong call to serve women in birth, and how she witnessed midwifery shift from an intuitive, woman-centered craft into a standardized profession shaped by regulation and Science™-driven conformity. We unpack the tensions between medicalized midwifery and the rise of free birth culture, the dogmas that have taken root on both sides, and the pressure some women feel when transferring to a hospital becomes framed as the ultimate failure. Mary Lou explains why she supports voluntary licensure, reflects on the role of heroism in midwifery, and highlights essential factors in homebirth risks— including breech, twins, and two key studies every woman should know.

We also dive into the commodification of free birth “cool-girl culture,” the trend-following that can override a woman’s intuition, and what happens when neither medical nor radical birth spaces provide grounded, empowering risk assessment. Mary Lou shares guidance for women discerning whether free birth is truly aligned for them, how to reconnect with intuition, and what responsibility should look like for birth attendants. For aspiring birth workers, we discuss where real learning still happens, who is worth learning from, and the irreplaceable value of having a woman at your birth who is willing to climb Everest with you.

Access Bonus Content

Follow Mary Lou Singleton on Substack

Check out Mary Lou's upcoming Herbalism course

Mary Lou's Website

Birthing From Within by Pam England

Spiritual Midwifery by Ina May Gaskin

Unassisted Childbirth by Laura Shanley

Physician- and midwife-attended home births Effects of breech, twin, and post-dates outcome data on mortality rates by Dr. Lewis Mehl

Perinatal death associated with planned home birth in Australia: population based study

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