Midwifery is one of the most ancient professions in the world and continues to be a vitally recognised role today. We see reference to this in the Torah and other religious liturgies.

As a Jewish woman, I have always felt connected to the stories of midwives in the Torah. When I first read the Red Tent by Anita Diamant at the age of 17, I felt that this opened my eyes to midwifery being at the centre of ancient Jewish life and that this must be echoed in the current day.

The Milky Way (Hebrew: Halav - חלב) is a 2023 Israeli-French film written, edited and directed by Maya Kenig - review written by Betsy Dwek, midwife and Shifrah UK co-founder.

When Sarah and Rob were told their two-day-old baby failed his new-born hearing test, their world changed. The anticipation of taking their baby home was replaced by the frightening and utterly unintelligible world of medical terminology, appointments, MRI scans, hearing assessments and blood tests. Sarah’s pregnancy had been healthy, but she had unknowingly contracted cytomegalovirus (CMV), which caused her baby to be born with congenital CMV (cCMV).

Many people have asked me, how does it feel to be a pregnant midwife? My answer is always that, whilst it helps to have the additional knowledge, when it comes to my own experience, I am still a mother, with the same vulnerabilities and anxieties that all other mothers have. 

Biology tells us that we are born in water; it’s from the amniotic fluid we emerge into the world.  Judaism also tells us that we are born in water, but this time it happens again and again, individually and collectively.

“I have goosebumps.” Hanna’s* eyes filled with tears as I told her my Hebrew name. “I can’t believe it, wow. I have such emunah.”**

Domestic abuse is a pattern of controlling, coercive, threatening, or violent behaviour used by one person to gain and maintain power over another in an intimate or familial relationship.

For religious Jews, there is a prohibition on working during Shabbos (or Shabbat, the sabbath, from Friday sundown to Saturday sundown). In this context, working means doing something for a purpose.

For religious Jews, there are also issues of modesty. As with some better-known groups, such as religious Muslims, many Jewish women dress modestly, cover their hair and do not show their bodies in public.

“During a fast, your body will make sure baby is getting what they need (whether pregnant or breastfeeding); however, it’s at the expense of the mother.”

Years ago, when I was a new mother, my infant daughter was hungry, so I latched her on. It didn’t occur to me that there was anything wrong with doing this during Friday night Shabbat services in the synagogue.