I have to admit, when I started reading this and saw that beautiful picture, I immediately thought "oh wow, another boutique midwifery practice for privileged White moms!" As a midwife whose patients are mostly Black and Brown and on Medicaid, I feel irritated on their behalf for what little attention is given to their experience of birth. This shows up in higher C-section rates, lower VBAC rates, less access to doulas and fewer calm/gentle birth experiences like waterbirth. I work at an FQHC and catch babies in an urban hospital. There is one hydrotherapy tub for like, 20 rooms. And the plumbing is broken (one water temp: very hot!) so I literally spent my last call shift dumping ice in a tub to cool down the water so my patient could use it. Congrats to Millie for pushing the envelope on what is possible for prenatal care/birth. It sounds different than what I'd imagined. So kudos!
Thanks for reading through! Maybe I need to rethink how it kicks off but that's part of it. Everyone deserves care in an environment that feels this way.
And yes, all of this is such a key piece of what Millie is about and what the "future" could look like if we do prioritize the birthing patients AND the humans who care for them, especially for the Medicaid community.
I have to admit, when I started reading this and saw that beautiful picture, I immediately thought "oh wow, another boutique midwifery practice for privileged White moms!" As a midwife whose patients are mostly Black and Brown and on Medicaid, I feel irritated on their behalf for what little attention is given to their experience of birth. This shows up in higher C-section rates, lower VBAC rates, less access to doulas and fewer calm/gentle birth experiences like waterbirth. I work at an FQHC and catch babies in an urban hospital. There is one hydrotherapy tub for like, 20 rooms. And the plumbing is broken (one water temp: very hot!) so I literally spent my last call shift dumping ice in a tub to cool down the water so my patient could use it. Congrats to Millie for pushing the envelope on what is possible for prenatal care/birth. It sounds different than what I'd imagined. So kudos!
Thanks for reading through! Maybe I need to rethink how it kicks off but that's part of it. Everyone deserves care in an environment that feels this way.
And yes, all of this is such a key piece of what Millie is about and what the "future" could look like if we do prioritize the birthing patients AND the humans who care for them, especially for the Medicaid community.