Restorying Birth Work: Insights from Nicole Morales on Midwifery and Education

In this episode of ‘Midwifery for the People,’ I had the pleasure of interviewing Nicole Morales, a home birth midwife based in San Diego, California. Nicole shares insights from her diverse background, which includes teaching, co-authoring books on midwifery, and training others in breech birth techniques. She discusses the various roles and internal conflicts midwives face while emphasizing the importance of storytelling, nervous system work, and the evolving nature of midwifery education. The episode delves into the complexities of practicing midwifery today and offers perspectives on how to navigate the ideological and practical challenges that midwives encounter. Below I’ll include the caption quote of hers that we discuss in the episode, and that inspired me to ask her to come on the show. “This question, who are you, gets asked by the universe not just amidst birthing babies or when we are faced by challenges in parenting, it is also asked of us birth workers after challenging births and overwhelming experiences. It gets asked of us during the emotions of both grief and triumph. I have been many midwives. I have been the trust birth midwife. I’ve been at births where some might call me the medwife. I have emulated other midwives. I have been the burnt out midwife and the exhilarated midwife. I have felt I was even several of those midwives all at once. I have also come out of births and arrived in what I call midwife purgatory, awaiting my sentencing of how someone feels about me and about their birth. I have awaited my sentencing of my inner critic after a birth, vowing to never make a certain decision or put myself in a certain position again, and I have broken that rule and cared for a family similarly again, but from a completely different perspective. In all the seasons of midwifery, I continue to deeply trust birth.” – Nicole Morales You can find Nicole at restorybirthwork.com and on IG at @nicolemoralesmidwife 00:00 Introduction and Guest Introduction 01:22 Nicole Morales’ Background and Work 02:23 Anthology and Storytelling in Midwifery 04:10 Perspectives on Midwifery and Birth Work 05:44 Reading and Discussing Nicole’s Quote 06:55 Navigating Midwifery Challenges and Ideologies 16:44 Midwifery Education and Nervous System Work 24:58 Breech Birth and Birth Work Experiences 28:35 Midwife Purgatory and Dealing with Outcomes 34:44 Shifting Conversations Around Birth and Death 43:41 Compassion and Generational Healing in Midwifery 48:21 Conclusion and Where to Find More Information