When I found out I was expecting my first baby I knew I had some significant fears about childbirth and wasn’t sure how I was going to handle labour. As I started looking for midwives in my area I came across a few who talked about supporting women to birth physiologically, who had a philosophy that birth is natural…

Hildegard of Bingen was a 12th century German abbess, composer, physician, and seer of visions. She was known to take in pregnant women and care for them, often keeping them under her wing long after they had given birth to their babies[…] This quote describes undisturbed physiological birth and shines as an example of ancient insight from a woman who knew how to witness and respect a mother in labour.