Of a total population of 9 million, there are only about 30 working Israeli homebirth midwives, between the lush Golan heights and the deserts of Eilat. We independent midwives are a curious breed, so let me tell you a little about how I got here and shed some light on my profession.
Growing up in suburban UK, I can recall only one of my mum’s friends being pregnant! It wasn’t the common experience that we have here in Israel. As a result, until the age of 19, when I started my degree in Nursing in Manchester University, I didn’t even realise that midwives were a ‘thing’. I knew about doctors and I knew about nurses, but that was about it.
When I had my first placement on the delivery suite in a hospital in Manchester, little did I know how that experience would shape the rest of my entire life. I had a huge, divine ‘aha’ moment whilst observing my first birth and from then on, I knew that midwifery was my calling.
I qualified as a nurse and moved quickly onto my midwifery training whist still in the UK.
Homebirth is considered very normal in the UK, as it is in many European countries and is deemed a safe option for low-risk mothers. (1) The autonomous rights of women during childbirth are also highly regarded in the UK. Therefore, any woman can choose to homebirth, even if she lives on a rocky outpost in the Outer Hebrides, or on a canal boat in deepest Yorkshire. The National Health Service will send a trusty midwife (on her bicycle perhaps…!) to attend her birth. Similarly, homebirth is so highly valued in Europe, that in The Netherlands for example, approximately 15% of births happen at home. (2)
It was in this environment that I developed as a midwife both in the hospital and in the community setting.
Fast forward a few years… Aliya, integration into Israeli society and raising a family. Who has time to study medical Hebrew, break her head (it was impossible) figuring out how to take the National Nursing exam and retrain as a midwife? I nearly let my life calling slip away. But the stars lined up for me (Hashgacha Pratis), a few angels nudged me in the right direction and I found myself retraining to get my Israeli midwifery license.
To read the rest of my blog, please visit me on Times of Israel blogging platform at this link: https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/im-a-homebirth-midwife-and-people-think-im-crazy/
To read more about my homebirth services https://www.sarahthemidwife.com/birth-services/