It was wonderful to be with a loving community of women. We had potluck brunch and told our favorite or most notable birth stories of the past year. I learned some new things and feel such a connection to all those great midwives who have come before me, those who have made my path a little easier. I can sense that these women genuinely care about the mothers we serve, and my respect for them continues to increase.
Utah has a rich heritage of midwifery from the early days of the state, and we have always had legal homebirth thanks to those pioneer midwives. Our current legislation-savvy midwives work very hard to keep it this way so that parents have rights and options for where they give birth and who can attend them. It's important to keep it this way so we all get the best care possible (everyone knows monopolies are bad for quality).
