“Whenever I give a talk — no matter what the subject — I always get around to my favorite topic.” Linda Fay Clark admitted, not a scintilla of apology in her voice.
At eighty-seven, Clark’s enthusiasm for her calling as a midwife is obvious. Over the years, she has delivered more than three thousand souls, each one a singular event. “Every baby’s the only baby I ever delivered,” she declared.
While a tenured associate professor at Murray State University, she yearned to be a midwife, yet hesitated to take steps to move forward. Her husband helped her get off the dime by saying, “If you’re ever going to do this, just go do it.”
In 1980, she was accepted at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. The program was in the School of Medicine, not the School of Nursing. Toward the end of the session, she was assigned to mentorship at an established midwifery practice in Douglasville, Georgia.
“I went for six weeks and stayed for nine years,” she quipped.
Today, when asked about her commitment to midwifery she said, “I wanted women to have birth as a joyful experience. It’s not something to ‘get through.’”
Public and political attitudes toward midwifery have changed over the years, but women have been midwives from the beginning of time. In the U.S., New York City was the first to require licensing of midwives in 1716. Childbirth did not become the realm of doctors until the nineteenth century, and as anesthesia became more commonly used in the late 1800s and early 1900s, delivery shifted to hospitals.
Beginning in the early 1800s, middle-class families started using doctors for childbirth. As anesthesia became more widely used towards the end of the 1800s and early 1900s, delivery began shifting to hospitals. By 1900, physicians supervised about half of the nation’s births, and midwives were only used for those who could not afford a doctor.
Since 2012, the popular BBC series “Call the Midwife” has clarified some of the truths — and exploded some of the myths — about midwifery. Clark has read the book and seen the TV depiction of midwives in the east end of London in the 1950s and 1960s. The traits exhibited by those women are enduring characteristics of midwives today.
“They have the caring touch. They understand the importance of patience, get fathers involved in the process, and get baby off to a good start,” she explained.
Clark bristles at use of the word “training” to describe the preparation midwives encounter as they seek a license that enables them to practice their profession legally.
“It’s not training,” she remarked. “Seals are trained. They don’t have to think.”
Clark also believes that in some circles midwives are considered to be the method of delivery for the poor. Setting that story straight, she mentioned that Kate Middleton, now Princess of Wales, had the help of a midwife when her children were born.
“Midwives for Justice” is the theme of this year’s National Midwifery Week, observed from October 2 to 8. Based on the idea that each person has a right to live all aspects of life with full access to the resources of society, the spotlight is on the reality of failures that have a devastating effect on women, babies, and families.
Some of the most dramatic disparities are based in racial and ethnic biases, poor outcomes for pregnancy and birth, and stunning mortality rates for mothers and infants, particularly those of racial minorities. The Midwives Alliance contends that these disparities “are evidence of persistent racial and ethnic discrimination in many sector of American life.”
In an era where a woman’s rights to birth control, family leave, affordable child care, and abortion is being restricted by legislators, mostly men, there is much discussion of the impact on women’s health and well-being. A case in point from 2012 involved Representative Todd akin (R-MO) who believed life begins at conception and abortion is not justified in cases of rape because it does not result in pregnancy.
Akin asserted, “It seems to be, first of all, from what I understand from doctors, it’s really rare. If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut the whole thing down.”
More current is the fact that states passing anti-abortion legislation have among the highest infant mortality rates in the country.
Such willful ignorance of the facts about women and children’s medical needs leads back to the observance of National Midwifery Week and women like Linda Fay Clark, who committed their professional lives to the health of women, children, and families. She shared a letter she received from a mother whose children she delivered years before. It was a belated thanks to Clark for bringing her daughters into the world.
“How many mothers are out there that would say what I am saying to you? You have been an extraordinary blessing me and to countless others, without question. You are that beacon, as well,” she wrote.
In addition to midwifery, Linda Fay Clark’s distinguished career included being called to active duty for Desert Storm, serving at Fort Knox and Fort Campbell as a lieutenant colonel. After that, she returned to teaching at MSU and worked part time as a Certified Nurse Midwife at Fort Campbell, until she retired after 20 years. She has published two memoirs – “Coming Home to Wiswell” and “You Can’t Un-ring the Bell” – and lives in Calloway County on the same farm where she was born.
What a lovely article honoring my dear friend and mentor, Linda Clark. I was most fortunate to be a nurse at the Birthing Center in Douglasville, Georgia. Working there with Linda and the amazing midwives, nurses, and physicians attending birthing families was the highlight of my 42 year career.