Often called the “mother of modern midwifery,” Ina May Gaskin is a world renowned midwife and the founder of The Farm Midwifery Center in Summertown, TN. http://www.inamay.com/?page_id=14 Part of the Vietnam era counterculture movement, Ina May and husband Stephen Gaskin founded The Farm in 1970 as a commune for like minded individuals, and with help and training from a local obstetrician, Ina May began working as a midwife to help deliver the babies that were born there. http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/sep/26/natural-birth-expert http://www.ecomall.com/greenshopping/inamay.htm Now, The Farm receives pregnant women from all over the United States and many from around the world who travel there in their final weeks of pregnancy to give birth to their babies with Gaskin’s team of midwives. http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/sep/26/natural-birth-expert The safety record of the births at The Farm was published in The American Journal of Public Health in 1992.http://www.inamay.com/?page_id=14

Recently profiled on Ricki Lake’s birth documentary, “The Business of Being Born,” Ina May is the author of several books and numerous articles. http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/sep/26/natural-birth-expert Her books include Spiritual Midwifery, a collection of homebirth stories from The Farm and a birthing guide for midwives, Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth, and the recently released Ina May’s Guide to Breastfeeding. http://www.inamay.com/?page_id=38 She currently still practices as a Certified Professional Midwife and has lectured on birth throughout the world.http://www.inamay.com/?page_id=14

While working on a humanitarian project in Guatemala in the 1970s, Gaskin observed local midwives treating cases of shoulder dystocia, a childbirth complication in which the baby’s shoulders become stuck during the second stage of labor, by placing the laboring mother on her hands and knees. http://www.ecomall.com/greenshopping/inamay.htm http://www.salon.com/people/bc/1999/06/01/gaskin Gaskin popularized the practice in the United States, and the Gaskin Maneuver, as it is now called, has been published in medical journals and is now used as a line of defense against shoulder dystocia by medical doctors. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0CYD/is_21_34/ai_61621174/

Troubled by high maternal mortality rates in the U.S. compared to other industrialized nations and inspired by the AIDS Memorial Quilt, Ina May began the Safe Motherhood Quilt Project to raise awareness of the issue of pregnancy and birth related maternal death. http://www.rememberthemothers.org/inamay.html Each square in the quilt represents a woman who has died of pregnancy or birth related complications since 1982. http://www.rememberthemothers.org/home.html