Midwife

Birthe Ariansen

Birthe Ariansen

I am an old-school midwife and have been practicing for 36 years. Being a midwife is a lifestyle for me. It means that my husband, children, and grandchildren have to support me so I can do the best job in the world.

For the past 20 years, I’ve been at ABC and have had the opportunity to work with holistic care during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. The success of this continuity model in maternity care is that it works for the birthing mother, the partner, and for us midwives. It’s about building a relationship with those you are helping along the way, building trust, and creating security.

To support a woman who wants to give birth physiologically, you need to change the birth environment. The place where she wants to 'lay her egg' must feel safe. A free flow of birth hormones, which she produces herself, will ensure strong contractions and pain relief during labor. Attending home births makes me a better midwife. I can see that it works for the birthing woman and for her partner.

What I feel even more strongly now is that, as a midwife, I must tune in more to women’s inherent knowledge about themselves and their intuition about what is good for their body and soul.

I am also a midwife activist. I’m passionate about midwifery and have participated in many international midwifery congresses. I love learning something new! I’m also an activist for delayed cord clamping. You can find me on YouTube as part of my activism, where you can watch a birth from ABC, 'The Birth,' and 'Perdy,' directed by birth photographer Eva Rose. I’ve also been on 'Foreldrerådet,' a podcast about giving birth without pain relief.

In my free time, I enjoy swimming in warm and cold water, e-biking, paddling, sailing, hiking with my dog, Tai Chi, Qigong, knitting, drawing, and painting with my grandchildren. I am also the founder of Wamini’s birth center in Uganda.

My guilty pleasure is a series I recommend you watch—'Call the Midwife,' a British period drama about midwives from the 1950s to the 1960s. I am now living the 'Call the Midwife' life, thanks to Min Fødsel!