Obstetrics is funny bc basically a bunch of men invented a highly medicalized way to give birth based on physician convenience, efficiency, and straight up pseudoscience in the 19th-early 20th century and now we are recognizing the merits of traditional midwifery practices that have been done successfully since time immemorial but we have to wait for decades of research to implement them because each protocol "change" (which is really a return) requires clinical trials to prove it is evidence. which would be fine but this is a standard our current protocols, which often are completely based on tradition and no scientific basis, just aren't held to. like you're telling me it took decades to prove delayed cord clamping is safe (duh) but we don't need to prove that giving birth in stirrups on your back is "safe"? want to push not on your back in stirrups? well that is not evidenced based to improve outcomes (there are no quality studies on it) so it's not worth the effort of letting u do it. like ur telling me we had to do actual studies to prove that feeling safe improves birth outcomes? i hate it here.
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"Good girl-- good girl, that's it! Listen to your body."
A bag full of snacks, and books, and massage oils, all woefully surplus to requirements, flung to the side of the room. The dappled reflection of under-lit water on the dark ceiling. A stack of warm towels. A tiny woollen hat. A little trolley of equipment; a calm attendant wearing smiles and blue.
Kento, knelt at the edge of the pool, his shirtsleeves soaked to the shoulder. One thick arm looped around your neck and chest as if he meant to throttle you, when really, he just needed to be held. Or, did you need to be held? The paired clinging comfort to be found in the gloom of fear, was not mutually exclusive, it seemed.
"Amazing work...you're doing so well, sweetheart...just going to listen to the baby's heart..."
Your heart and Kento's pounded in tandem, almost as fast as the little pwssh-pwssh-pwssh-pwssh of your baby's heart, tinny on the Doppler, as the midwife's hand swished through the water. Kento whispered to you, his cheek clasped to your temple, sweatslick hair sticking you together.
"Our baby-- that's our baby-- god I love you, I love you so much, I'm so sorry, I wish I could do this for you--"
You gasped, splashing legs clamouring for resistance against the edge of the pool, writhing back against Kento. Kento's face crumpled, his teeth gritting so hard against your agony, they crunched.
You bellowed, another contraction roaring through you like wildfire, and you gripped Kento's arm. Your scream became a roar as you pushed, absurdly, overwhelmingly dragged from your body by a brutal force of nature. You barely heard Kento's hushed rumble, through the haze of blinding pain.
"...can do it, you can do it, you're so strong-- not long now-- nearly here, they're nearly here, our baby--"
You gasped again, seeing stars for a moment, surely being cleaved in half and you panicked, crying out and digging your nails in. Kento didn't care, surely deserving this, certain your nails didn't sting as much as the stretch you felt stung. You babbled at Kento and the midwife, pleading, bargaining.
"I can't do it anymore-- please don't make me, please please--"
"You're doing it, sweetheart. The biggest part of the head is coming with the next push-- with the next one, just listen to me, and breathe. No pushing. Just little breaths."
You looked up at Kento, your eyes feverish with the love that ripped you asunder. Kento nodded, trusting you, trying to hide the fear and miserable male helplessness and uselessness that threatened to fill him with violence, if he did not cling so desperately to being gentle instead.
Kento felt you tense; another pain peaking as you shook your head, sobbing so briefly, only to be replaced by gritted resolution. Kento saw the fire in your eyes as you began to roar, and thought his heart may break with the weight of his adoration.
Kento grasped you close, your fingers plaited together. He whispered to you as you trembled, fighting against nature as your body pushed for you.
"...that's it-- that's it-- just breathe, little breaths, little breaths-- I know it stings, good girl, good girl-- and the head's out!"
Kento's heart stopped, to see the crest of a little head, its soft waves of hair swishing in the birthing pool. Invigorated by thrill, almost weeping with excitement, he whispered to you, heated and trembling.
"--oh god-- right there, they're right there-- nearly got them, we'll know what we've got--"
"Just one more big push, sweetheart-- one big push with the next contraction, and your baby's here--"
Almost ten months of blooming and worry and scans and building and laughing and crying and aching and fearing, all ended in one enormous push, and a whoosh, and a cry...
...and a cry, wet and sweet and crumpled and on your chest, mother and child still bound together by the string of life.
Kento buckled against the side of the pool. Still he held you, looking down at you, looking down at your baby, blue and angry and baleful at having been shoved into the world from their warm dark kingdom.
Arms replaced the womb, and Kento huffed a couple of great sobs to hear you babble love at your scrumply flailing babe.
"--oh my god-- oh you're so beautiful-- oh, mummy loves you-- daddy loves you--"
Daddy. Kento almost buckled again, nuzzling his tears away into your hair, smothering your sweaty cheeks with kisses and relief. His voice was thick with joy, the fever of pain in your eyes replaced with elation, clasping the boon of a champion within your arms.
"Thank you. I can't...I can't thank you-- I-- love you, love you both so much--"
You gazed up at Kento, basking, your eyes glazed. "Kento...Ken...what have we got? Tell me-- tell me what we've got."
Kento sniffled, looking at the midwife as if for permission. She looked on, an enamoured, privileged bystander, and nodded encouragingly to Kento. Kento leaned over you, gently lifting his baby's legs apart, peering under the cord.
He huffed a single wet laugh, and looked at you, honey-brown eyes rimmed red. Kento's voice was gravelly as he stroked your hair back, to your wondrous grin.
Eileithyia, the Ancient Greek goddess of childbearing and midwifery.
Not much is given to her description or symbolic associations in ancient art and writing, so I leaned into the practice of midwifery to make her design feel more meaningful. She is depicted as a midwife preparing a mother for delivery, sitting on a stool and holding a sponge in one hand. In her other hand, she holds a torch aloft, which is in reference to her cult image at Aigion as described by Pausanias. The basket next to her contains a lekythos of olive oil (depicting the birth of Athene), bandages, and mugwort which would have been used by ancient midwives. The distaff is reference to her being described as a deft spinner and her frequent association with the Moirai. The polecat is symbolizes the myth of Galanthis, who was transformed into the animal by Eileithiya for tricking her into releasing Alcmene from her labor during the birth of Heracles.Â
The fetus in its most usual position in the womb, head downwards. Plate XX from a popular 19th century manual on pregnancy and birth. The matron's manual of midwifery. Frederick Hollick. 1890.
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The way Ken Paxtonâs office has handled the case is highly unusual, according to several attorneys who spoke with HuffPost.
Alanna Vagianos at HuffPost:
Texas provided no evidence that Houston-based midwife Maria Rojas violated the stateâs abortion ban, a state appeals court ruled on Thursday.
The stateâs Fifteenth Court of Appeals reversed a temporary injunction order shutting down three clinics in the Northwest Houston area that the midwife owned and operated. The injunction was part of a March 2025 civil lawsuit brought by Ken Paxton, the state attorney general and a leading anti-abortion advocate, over allegations that Rojas violated the stateâs near-total abortion ban. Paxton is now the GOP candidate for U.S. Senate in Texas, facing Democratic state Rep. James Talarico in a close race.
âThis is a real win because the state â for nearly a year and a half now â has been able to make these allegations, argue that this woman who has dedicated her life to caring for mothers and families has done something wrong,â Jenna Hudson, senior counsel at the Center for Reproductive Rights, told HuffPost.
Paxtonâs office also brought criminal charges against Rojas last year, shortly after the attorney general announced his Senate bid. Rojas was the first person to be arrested and charged for allegedly violating the stateâs near-total abortion ban, with Paxton accusing the midwife of providing illegal abortions and practicing without a medical license. Both the civil and criminal cases are ongoing, despite the injunction reversal.
The way Paxtonâs office has handled the case is highly unusual, according to Hudson and several other attorneys who spoke with HuffPost. Rojasâ criminal attorneys told HuffPost last year there is little evidence against Rojas other than the 30-page affidavit filed by Paxtonâs office at the time of her arrest. Rojas was arrested and held in jail for 10 days on an exorbitant $1.4 million bail. Although she was arrested in March, she wasnât indicted for another three months. She was also held in jail at the time of her injunction hearing for her civil suit.
âItâs incredibly unusual. This is not the way that itâs supposed to work,â Hudson said. âThat is one of the many reasons that itâs clear to us this is just part of a political attack. The state is so desperate to find someone to accuse of having violated the abortion ban that it conducted a shoddy investigation, and it targeted this trusted community midwife without any evidence.â
A spokesperson for Paxtonâs office told HuffPost on Friday that the attorney generalâs office will seek review of the appellate court ruling from the Texas Supreme Court.
[...]
Even with this victory, Hudson said it will be nearly impossible for Rojas to reopen the three clinics that were shut down due to the injunction. Rojasâ midwifery license has been suspended pending the outcome of her criminal case, and her movements are restricted because she is court-ordered to wear an ankle monitor. She also had to give up the leases on the clinics because she couldnât afford to pay them while not working.
[...]
Despite the fact that both criminal and civil cases will continue, Hudson underscored that this is still a victory for Rojas and other providers in the state. âThis moment where an appellate court has definitively said that the state has not presented any evidence that she did something wrong, and therefore improperly received this order that shut down her clinics is a real moment to be celebrated,â Hudson said.
Ken Paxton handed an L by the Texas 15th Court of Appeals.
