Natural Birth and Midwives

A natural birth is an unmediated approach to childbirth with minimal routine interventions unless medically necessary. The Farm in Summertown, Tennessee, is an intentional community, established in 1971, based on the principles of nonviolence and respect for the earth. Pamela Smith, a founding member of the Farm, gave birth to three sons naturally with Ina May Gaskin as her midwife. Ina May Gaskin is well known by those choosing natural birth for her work as a midwife on the Farm. Smith worked along side Gaskin in the birthing center on the Farm and shares her story with KBCS’s Yuko Kodama. Special thanks to Project Pilgrimage for arranging the interview.

Producers Yuko Kodama and Ruth Bly

Photo: Courtesy of Pamela Smith

Incarcerated Women: Giving Birth in Prison

Margerita Guzman is an inmate at Washington Correctional Center for Women in Gig Harbor who became locked up while pregnant. She shares her experience of giving birth behind bars and highlights issues mothers face while in the prison system with KBCS’s Yuko Kodama.

Producers Yuko Kodama and Ruth Bly