Ina May Middleton Gaskin

Born: 1940

Country of Birth: USA

Nationality: USA

Ethnicity: White

University of Iowa BA English Literature 1962; Northern Illinois University MA English 1967

"“Your body is not a lemon. You are not a machine. The Creator is not a careless mechanic.” (sheis.com); “When we as a society begin to value mothers as the givers and supporters of life, then we will see social change in ways that matter.” (sheis.com); “It is important to keep in mind that our bodies must work pretty well, or there wouldn’t be so many humans on the planet.” (sheis.com); “If a woman doesn’t look like a goddess during labor, then someone isn’t treating her right.” (breannekallonen.com); "A society that places a low value on its mothers and the process of birth will suffer an array of negative repercussions for doing so. Good beginnings make a positive difference in the world, so it is worth our while to provide the best possible care for mothers and babies throughout this extraordinarily influential part of life." (azquotes.com); "Ask the woman, she will tell you everything you need to know" (azquotes.com); "

— Ina May Middleton Gaskin

Field of Study: Midwifery

Institution/Corporation: The Farm

Degrees & Memberships: Honorary Degree: Thames Valley University (2009); Shenandoah University (2013); Member: Midwives Alliance of North America (MANA)

Awards: 1997 Lamaze Irwin Chabon Award, American Society for Psyvho-Prophylaxis in Obstetrics; 1997 Tennessee Perinatal Association Recognition Award; 2011 co-winner Right Livelihood Award, Swedish Parliament; 2013 National Women's Hall of Fame

Achievements: midwife known for Gaskin Maneuver (also called all fours & the first obstetrical procedure to be named after a midwife), a technique she learned in Guatemala in 1976 for preventing & resolving shoulder dystocia during birth; 1971 with husband Stephen founded The Farm in Summerton Tennessee where they created The Farm Midwifery Center, one of the first out-of-hospital birthing centers in the United States; wrote Spiritual Midwifery (1977) & it is considered a seminal work on midwifery; between 1977 and 2000 published the quarterly magazine Birth Gazette (covered health care, childbirth, and midwifery issues); Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth, her second book about birth and midwifery, was published by Bantam/Dell in 2003; founder of the Safe Motherhood Quilt Project, a national effort developed to draw public attention to maternal death rates and to honor those women who have died of pregnancy-related causes since the 1980s; 1982 co-founder of Midwives Alliance of North America;