Birth and Midwifery with Ina May Gaskin, author of Spiritual Midwifery

Mark, I thoroughly enjoyed your interview with Ina May Gaskin -- someone I've long admired snd whose voice, manner and message were that of a centered, knowledgeable woman focused on her work with women and childbirth. Keep it up!

Reading that last comment of mine over, I didn't say enough about the interview with Ina Mae. She and Steve Gaskin provided a model for living from 1966 forward to today, starting with Steven's Monday Night Class in San Francisco and continuing through all of her good work with home birthing in her community as well as the lights she lit across the world with her book on the subject. Your interview was wonderful in drawing that out.

Hi Mark I love the Northern Spirit Radio program. It kept me company while I cleaned around my desk today. It is so great to be able to listen at my convenience. Great interviews. I am particularly happy to go to the website about Ina May and THE FARM. They have a book out on THE GREAT CHANGE about the post petroleum wonderful world. u/cebrowski/woolsey.html, get that. I also have been showing Robt Newman here: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7374585792978336967 or just an audio except http://www.robnewman.com/peakoil.mp3 for the Nano while biking to work or if you lack broadband. note too the emergent Kortin/Macy meme. e.g.: http://www.yesmagazine.org/article.asp?ID=1473, http://www.yesmagazine.org/article.asp?ID=1463 check it out Albert, 18 Jun 06 Fact: our petroleum civilization is about to enter into its natural decline phase and, if the transition to a solar income economy and much warmer climate is not well managed, the global food and water supply that supports our unprecidented human population could rapidly collapse. Most people arrive at this understanding with a sudden realization. Hurricane, sea level rise, prolonged drought, scorching heat, or the high cost of water, power, and gas may provide the wake-up call. And the reaction is entirely predictable — this is a new reality, completely contrary to our life plan and preparation. The normal response is denial, then debate, then acceptance, with a mix of panic and dread. Relax. Breathe deeply. It doesn't need to be that bad. The great change will be wonderful. SEEMS LIKE YOU MIGHT WANT TO DO A SHOW ON IT! BLESSINGS CALEY Powell

With my feet planted firmly on the ground and my head stuffed deeply into hard/bad news websites, it is easy, perhaps even comfortable, to apprehend the dark side of everyday events. Call it cynicism in the service of truth searching, beyond which there lies only propaganda or travelogue. So it was with great pleasure that I listened to the Ida May Gaskin (“Spiritual Midwifery”) segment of “Spirit in Action.” Years ago, when I was a practicing journalist, I wrote several magazine articles focusing on home childbirth. The birthing couples I interviewed came from different backgrounds and arrived at their birthing choices from different perspectives. Some used midwives; some were midwives attended by colleagues. Others contracted with general practitioners to attend the birth at home. I recounted their stories, most of them the result of passionate beliefs, quite dispassionately. At the time, I was aware of Gaskin's work. I dismissed Gaskin and the spirituality of the Farm community -- in fact, anything remotely spiritual -- as quaint. Vaguely reminiscent of the Sixties. Circumstances since then have propelled me closer to the spiritual side of life. Your program allowed me to revisit a time in my past and reflect on motivations I could record but not really fathom. I wanted to share this with you and your listeners, and offer my thanks for giving voice to the divine.

I listened to this program three times. I'm an RN in labor and delivery and loved listening to this interview. It was very inspiring and uplifting.