Contemporary Issues in the Training, Practice, and Implementation of Midwifery for Indigenous Women in Mexico

Abstract

Midwifery care in Mexico is currently not understood to be a profession, nor is there acceptance of the midwifery model of care as a desirable norm for most women. While there has been a commitment to integrated medicine in the public sector, such as the Intercultural Hospital in San Cristobal de Las Casas, and recently “humanized birth” areas in maternity hospitals in Tula, Hidalgo, and Tlaxcala, there are different and conflicting opinions and visions how to achieve “integrated medicine,” which includes midwifery care. The following chapter examines the current state of maternal health, professional and traditional midwifery in Mexico, its effect on health outcomes for women, and its interface with publicly funded care. We review the state of maternal health in Mexico and explore the cultural worldview of Mesoamerican birth ways, which remains an important influence among the various indigenous groups in contemporary Mexico. We argue that professional midwifery is the bridge between the two worlds of contemporary Western obstetric care with its evidence base in addressing the physical complications of pregnancy and childbearing and the more spiritual and holistically driven orientation of indigenous traditional midwifery.