Latina midwives merge cultural wisdom with modern care
In communities across the nation, Afro and Indigenous Latina midwives are experiencing a quiet revolution one rooted in ancestral wisdom and the enduring strength of generations past. Grounded in touch, care and deep cultural knowing, midwifery is not only about guiding mothers and babies safely into the world but also reclaiming cultural traditions.
Using a midwife, for me was a very personal choice, Carolina Brinkley says. After experiencing an unpleasant hospital delivery with her first child, the Florida-based mother of three sought Zulgeil (Zul) Ruiz-Ginés, a certified midwife for the birth of her second and third baby.
It was literally a night and day experience, Brinkley says of the hospital birth versus the home birth assisted by a comadrona or co-mother as they are known in the Caribbean and Latin America. It was important to me to also have a Hispanic midwifery team because I knew they would understand the nuances from a cultural perspective.
According to a 2023 study by the Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health, there were 12.4 birth-related deaths in Hispanic women per every 100,000 live births. When you couple that with the fact that in 2025 40% of Latina and Hispanic women giving birth in hospitals will experience a maternal mental health disorder such as maternal depression it raises cause for concern for the safety of new mothers.
This year, the World Health Organization (WHO) officially called for the global expansion of midwifery-led models of care, citing overwhelming evidence that they lead to better outcomes for moms and their babies. Recent studies also suggest that universal access to skilled midwives could prevent over 60% of maternal-related deaths, amounting to 4.3 million lives saved annually by 2035.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/health-wellness/2025/10/07/latina-midwives-revive-tradition/84524962007/?tbref=hp
I predict that this is the coming model, especially in rural areas where hospitals are closing thanks to the Big Ugly Bill and cuts in healthcare. Midwifery is also a tradition in southern rural Black communities and I predict it will be revived; also in Appalachia and the rural west and perhaps even the midwest.