In Los Angeles, Debbie Allen — a licensed midwife and a Certified Professional Midwife — is serving a demographic that doesn’t represent your typical midwifery clientele: some are on Medicaid, or have no health insurance, and many are African-American or Latina. Allen believes these women, who may feel disenfranchised by hospital systems and traditional health care institutions, stand to gain the most from an intimate approach to maternity care.
“You can’t get good quality maternity care in five minutes, and you’re waiting in an office for two hours for an appointment,” Allen said. “Our appointments are 45 minutes. So we talk about diet, your jobs, your relationships. So by the time you have your baby, we really know you and you really know us, which makes a huge difference in how you birth.”
Chapter 1: An OpEd by Lisa Ling – Why I Regret My Scheduled C-section
Chapter 2: It’s Not Home Birth Or Bust
Chapter 3: I Had A Baby With Eggs Frozen For Seven Years
Chapter 4: How I Had A Baby Without My Uterus
Chapter 5: Pregnancy Is Still Costing Women Their Jobs
Midwives of Color 