My Mentor, the Trailblazer: Kathy

Send us Fan MailBefore water births were trendy, before fathers were allowed in delivery rooms, before midwives could legally do a pelvic exam in Maryland — there was Kathy. the midwife who wouldn't be managed.  In this episode, host Katie O'Brien interviews her mentor and the mentor of many other midwives in the Baltimore area: Kathy Slone. Kathy traces her career from an Indiana labor and delivery floor in 1968 to the halls of Johns Hopkins, where she negotiated her own salary with an unflinching stare, pioneered in-room deliveries (no more wheeling patients down the hall to birth!), taught physicians how to fit diaphragms, and testified before Maryland's legislature to rewrite outdated midwifery law. Oh, and how about the time she accidentally ran a clinic solo for a year while the doctors were in Southeast Asia shortly after becoming a midwife, or when she introduced in-hospital waterbirth to the Baltimore area!With Kim's (Kathy's longtime office manager) legendary memory and Kathy's refusal to take "no" for an answer, they created a Baltimore practice that became the rare place within hospital walls that actually felt human. Recorded over tea in Kim's cozy Baltimore living room, this conversation is part origin story, part love letter to mentorship, and part field guide for anyone who wonders how much of an impact one midwife can make. This episode pairs best with a cup of english breakfast, prepared traditionally, of course!