In Safe Hands: A Midwife's Journey in Rural Yucatán

Paulina, a midwife in Yucatán, Mexico, has recently participated in GPA's midwifery initiatives.

Enriching the skills of midwives has always been central to GPA’s mission of reducing maternal and infant mortality in Mexico and Guatemala. Paulina, a 36-year-old traditional midwife in Yucatán, Mexico who’s participated in our midwife initiatives in the recent past, spoke to us about the importance of traditional midwifery in her community and how she came to practice her craft.

“I started out eight years ago, providing pregnancy-related massage,” she says. Paulina learned midwifery from her mother-in-law. As is often the case with traditional midwives, midwifery is both a skill and a tradition, passed down through generations of women in rural communities where access to healthcare is limited, and the nearest hospital may be hours away. In communities like Paulina’s, midwives play a critical role in ensuring the health—and at times the survival—of mothers and babies.

Paulina attended her first birth when someone came looking for her mother-in-law to assist a woman in labor. Her mother-in-law wasn’t home, so Paulina stepped in, drawing on the experience she had gained from witnessing and assisting previous births. “Thankfully, the baby was born healthy, and everything turned out well,” she comments.

That experience gave Paulina the confidence and desire to continue. Since then, she has delivered six babies and has managed complications. “If the baby is in a breech position, I massage the woman's belly gently so the baby begins moving into a normal position,” she explains.

“I love being a midwife. It’s a blessing,” she says, describing the joy of seeing a new mother with her baby. She also shares that women in her community feel safer giving birth in their own homes, where they are most comfortable.

Will she continue with midwifery? “Absolutely,” she says with a smile. “It’s important that there continue to be midwives because there are many pregnancies now, and sometimes women don’t make it to the hospital.”

“As midwives, we can support pregnant women so they can give birth safely.”