#65 - Barbara d’Amato - What Birth Can Be

<p>Barbara d’Amato has spent nearly 50 years welcoming babies into the world—many of them from my hometown of Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania. She had already delivered roughly 6,000 babies by the time she closed her private practice in 2018, and one colleague estimates her lifetime total may now be closer to 10,000.</p><p>Barbara’s path to midwifery began with a traumatic first birth—one that included a doctor telling her, “Don’t get your hopes up, we’re gonna lose him,” followed by eight hours not knowing whether her son would survive. Following that experience, Barbara left determined to make birth better for other women.</p><p>Years later, after witnessing a completely undisturbed home birth, Barbara saw what birth <em>could</em> be and has spent nearly half a century since trying to preserve its humanity, dignity, and power while keeping mothers and babies safe. Only later in her career would she realize that, in helping other women, she had also been trying to heal from her own experience.</p><p>At 75, Barbara reflects on that journey and opens a conversation about informed consent, childbirth education, and making women aware of the choices available to them in birth. Her story and experience are far too rich to summarize here—from raising five children and blending a family of eleven, to 24 grandchildren, to nearly five decades of continuing to work <em>with women</em>—the meaning at the heart of midwifery.</p><p>This is the first of what I hope will be many conversations with Barbara. Welcome to episode 65.</p><p><br></p><p><strong>Elevate the Experience</strong></p><p>Help bring better audio, video, and filmed episodes to life:<a href="https://www.venmo.com/u/TheEthanCLewinPodcast"> <u>Venmo</u></a>. I tithe 10% of all contributions—half to the<a href="https://allsecurefoundation.org/donate"> <u>All Secure Foundation</u></a> (supporting soldiers’ transition home) and half to the<a href="https://secure.qgiv.com/for/aotnc"> <u>Academy of the New Church High School</u></a>.</p><p><br><strong>Stay Connected</strong></p><p>Contact:<a href="https://ethanchaselewin.com/contact"> </a><a href="https://ethanclewin.com/"><u>https://ethanclewin.com/</u></a></p><p><br></p>