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Ina May Gaskin Quotes

Only rarely do doctors in training have the opportunity to sit continuously with laboring women for hours. Most are taught to intervene in the normal process so often and so early that they have never...

Ina May Gaskin

Only rarely do doctors in training have the opportunity to sit continuously with laboring women for hours. Most are taught to intervene in the normal process so often and so early that they have never...

Tags: birth, childbirth, doctors, labor

Remember this, for it is as true and true gets: Your body is not a lemon. You are not a machine. The Creator is not a careless mechanic. Human female bodies have the same potential to give birth well...

Ina May Gaskin

Remember this, for it is as true and true gets: Your body is not a lemon. You are not a machine. The Creator is not a careless mechanic. Human female bodies have the same potential to give birth well...

Tags: childbirth, midwifery

About Author
Ina May Gaskin (née Middleton; born March 8, 1940) is an American midwife who has been described as "the mother of authentic midwifery." She helped found the self-sustaining community, The Farm, with her husband Stephen Gaskin in 1971 where she markedly launched her career in midwifery. She is known for the Gaskin Maneuver, has written several books on midwifery and childbirth, and continues to educate society through lectures and conferences and spread her message of natural, old-age inspired, fearless childbirth.

The state of relaxation of the mouth and jaw is directly correlated to the ability of the cervix, the vagina, and the anus to open to full capacity.

Ina May Gaskin

The state of relaxation of the mouth and jaw is directly correlated to the ability of the cervix, the vagina, and the anus to open to full capacity.

We are, indeed, fully prepared to believe that the bearing of children may and ought to become as free from danger and long debility to the civilized woman as it is to the savage. —Thomas Huxley

Ina May Gaskin

We are, indeed, fully prepared to believe that the bearing of children may and ought to become as free from danger and long debility to the civilized woman as it is to the savage. —Thomas Huxley

Stories teach us in ways we can remember. They teach us that each woman responds to birth in her unique way and how very wide-ranging that way can be. Sometimes they teach us about silly practices onc...

Ina May Gaskin

Stories teach us in ways we can remember. They teach us that each woman responds to birth in her unique way and how very wide-ranging that way can be. Sometimes they teach us about silly practices onc...

Tags: childbirth, midwifery

Remember this, for it is as true as true gets: Your body is not a lemon. You are not a machine. The Creator is not a careless mechanic.

Ina May Gaskin

Remember this, for it is as true as true gets: Your body is not a lemon. You are not a machine. The Creator is not a careless mechanic.

When avoidance of pain becomes the major emphasis of childbirth care, the paradoxical effect is that more women have to deal with pain after their babies are born.

Ina May Gaskin

When avoidance of pain becomes the major emphasis of childbirth care, the paradoxical effect is that more women have to deal with pain after their babies are born.

Even if it has not been your habit throughout your life so far, I recommend that you learn to think positively about your body.

Ina May Gaskin

Even if it has not been your habit throughout your life so far, I recommend that you learn to think positively about your body.

Tags: feminism, sex positive

Can I drink and eat in labor? • If I go into labor, check in to the hospital, and my labor slows down before I get very far, can I go home? • What is your induction rate? What methods do you use? • Ca...

Ina May Gaskin

Can I drink and eat in labor? • If I go into labor, check in to the hospital, and my labor slows down before I get very far, can I go home? • What is your induction rate? What methods do you use? • Ca...

Emphatically, that I was. After that I decided not to feel sorry for myself or

Ina May Gaskin

Emphatically, that I was. After that I decided not to feel sorry for myself or

Remember this, for it is as true as true gets: Your body is not a lemon. You are not a machine. The Creator is not a careless mechanic. Human female bodies have the same potential to give birth well a...

Ina May Gaskin

Remember this, for it is as true as true gets: Your body is not a lemon. You are not a machine. The Creator is not a careless mechanic. Human female bodies have the same potential to give birth well a...

Tags: pregnancy

Marie Striekwold-Ebben, passed along this piece of wisdom: Even if you don’t have much money, keep in mind that the bedroom is the most important room in the house. Love and sadness are shared under t...

Ina May Gaskin

Marie Striekwold-Ebben, passed along this piece of wisdom: Even if you don’t have much money, keep in mind that the bedroom is the most important room in the house. Love and sadness are shared under t...

The way a culture treats women in birth is a good indicator of how well women and their contributions to society are valued and honored.

Ina May Gaskin

The way a culture treats women in birth is a good indicator of how well women and their contributions to society are valued and honored.

Tags: women

Gardeners know that you must nourish the soil if you want healthy plants. You must water the plants adequately, especially when seeds are germinating and sprouting, and they should be planted in a nut...

Ina May Gaskin

Gardeners know that you must nourish the soil if you want healthy plants. You must water the plants adequately, especially when seeds are germinating and sprouting, and they should be planted in a nut...

I have also known of weight estimates by ultrasound to be off by as much as five pounds.

Ina May Gaskin

I have also known of weight estimates by ultrasound to be off by as much as five pounds.

The strangest request I have encountered was that of a first-time mother who—just before pushing—asked her husband for a jar of peanut butter and proceeded to eat two heaping table-spoonfuls. She then...

Ina May Gaskin

The strangest request I have encountered was that of a first-time mother who—just before pushing—asked her husband for a jar of peanut butter and proceeded to eat two heaping table-spoonfuls. She then...

I kept thinking while I was pushing, I’m going to get huge. I’m going to get huge! she said.

Ina May Gaskin

I kept thinking while I was pushing, I’m going to get huge. I’m going to get huge! she said.

Contrary to myth, for instance, intrinsic physical characteristics only rarely interfere with the capacity to give birth. In other words, your pelvis is probably big enough for vaginal birth. Nearly e...

Ina May Gaskin

Contrary to myth, for instance, intrinsic physical characteristics only rarely interfere with the capacity to give birth. In other words, your pelvis is probably big enough for vaginal birth. Nearly e...

… in the ordinary course of a healthy labour, the mouth of the uterus opens by some secret agency; or at least without any apparent force.

Ina May Gaskin

… in the ordinary course of a healthy labour, the mouth of the uterus opens by some secret agency; or at least without any apparent force.

The techno-medical model of maternity care, unlike the midwifery model, is comparatively new on the world scene, having existed for barely two centuries. This male-derived framework for care is a prod...

Ina May Gaskin

The techno-medical model of maternity care, unlike the midwifery model, is comparatively new on the world scene, having existed for barely two centuries. This male-derived framework for care is a prod...