Trusting Nature: Today’s Traditional Midwife
Produced, written, and directed by Patty Brennan
First released in 1989, 52 minutes

The work performed by traditional homebirth midwives is showcased in this DVD presentation. Three different families, attended by three different midwives or midwife teams are shown. Educational and clinical aspects of prenatal visits are depicted as each midwife reveals her own particular style of care. The mothers give birth at home, one in bed, one on hands and knees on the floor, and the last on a birthing stool in a supported squatting position.

The viewer experiences a sense of time passing in labor, witnesses the struggle of one mother who has an especially painful back labor, and sees an unedited, slow crowning of the baby’s head over an intact perineum. A range of support techniques, including the use of herbal and homeopathic remedies, is shown. One mother experiences a complication with a partially separated placenta, which resolves safely at home due to the decisiveness and skill of the attending midwife.