Happy International Day of the Midwife! It is 6:15 am, and your phone rings. You reach for it, knowing that it has to be urgent because it is your, "GET OUT OF BED - someone is having a baby!" ringer. It is a blocked caller, a fellow midwifery colleague likely. "Hello?" "Hey, it's me, can you come to relieve me? I have been awake for twenty-four hours and I am fading". "Of course, no problem, I'm on my way." You jump out of bed, peel the toddler off of your chest who has been waking up teething. You brush your teeth, hit "start" on the coffee machine, put on your birth clothes, and head for the door. Wait…. Breakfast! You grab a ...

"So, what do you do?" This is the question we often get asked as midwives when we are off-call and out with friends. We smile because this question is likely going to lead to one of two outcomes. The first involves intense questioning for thirty minutes on the safety of a midwife. The second involves being asked to "please take me (or my friend) into midwifery care, so I can bypass the wait list." "But you aren't a doctor? How can you deliver babies without being a doctor?" This lack of knowledge about our role and responsibilities is common. We then explain how catching a baby isn't overly difficult. We train to be able to navigate birth when the complications ...