Cynthia Maloney:  

It was the winter of 1982, in a class called Life after High School when Lally Stowell, my teacher at Watertown High School, had two young midwives to come in as guest speakers- Valerie Hodenius and Trudy Cox. They told us all about their profession, what it entailed and the philosophy behind it. As they spoke, a light went off over my head! What they said made so much sense! These were the answers to the questions I had been asking my mother since I was nine years old! Nothing had ever hit me like this before! This is what I wanted to do! How could I have gone so long without ever knowing this was an option! I soon found myself reading everything I could on the subject. I changed my schedule for senior year adding biology classes in hopes that I would be able to get into nursing school. In the spring of 1984 I was accepted into UMass Boston's nursing school. My fascination with babies didn't end there and soon I found myself pregnant(not at all a surprise!) All thoughts of college got put on hold, for now. I was having a baby and I couldn't have been happier! School could wait a year or two, now was time for planning the birth of my child. I got a job as a teacher at a The Children's Corner in Watertown and began my new life. My first prenatal was with an antiquated obstetrician who didn't see eye to eye with me on anything. I very succinctly told him what my plans and desires were for this birth and said I would not be using him again! I knew I wanted a to deliver with a midwife, someone with similar thoughts and values as I had and would respect my decisions and desires. I called Valerie Hodenius at the newly opened Midwifery practice at Mount Auburn Hospital and made my first appointment with her. That August day in 1984, Valerie saw a "pimply faced little teenager" (as she later put it) walk into her office. As she spoke of all different aspects of pregnancy, I kept piping in with "I read about that" and went on to say all I knew. She was duly impressed. At the end of the visit, she said to me "Well! You know more about your body than most 40 year old women!" Valerie and I had already begun forming a bond. In March of 1985, a month before my 19th birthday, my daughter Caty was born. Her labor started at 4:20AM and she came at 8:40PM. I was determined to have a natural birth, and I did! I used no drugs, I needed no episiotomy and I did not tear. It was a wonderful experience-empowering and beautiful! Valerie was with me the whole time, as well as a wonderful woman who worked for her, Melissa Apperson. Although the word "doula" hadn't been coined yet, Melissa was my doula. I know that Valerie and Melissa's loving guidance and support, as well as my hunger for a natural birth was what allowed me to have such a wonderful experience. Valerie's support didn't end there, over the next few years she was an infinite source of knowledge. A couple times, she called me when newspapers and television programs wanted to interview parents who had chosen midwives. She was my staunchest supporter and often said "just because someone is a young mother, doesn't make them a bad mother!" She had so much faith in my ability to be a good parent. I stayed at home with Cat...Expand for more