WORKING WITH THE SCRIPTURES

Jan. 31, 2010 (Lk. 4:21-30)

Beth is a Certified Nurse-Midwife. For several years after receiving her nursing degree Beth worked in the obstetrics unit of her local hospital but all during that time Beth was feeling more and more drawn to something more. Finally, with the support of her husband and three energetic daughters, Beth went back to school to pursue her dream. Today Beth is an Advanced Practice Nurse with specialized education and training in both Nursing and Midwifery. Her training allows her to function as primary healthcare provider for women and to provide medical care for relatively healthy women whose birth is considered uncomplicated and not "high risk."

Certified Nurse Midwives practice in hospitals and medical clinics. They may also deliver in birthing centers and handle at-home births. However, while Beth's training may allow her to provide these services, many of the doctors with whom she has worked over the years still find it difficult to accept. It almost seems that as long as Beth was “just a nurse” they were more than happy to have her as part of their practice, but when it became possible for Beth to function in what some considered a competitive role many of the same men she had worked with now turned their backs on her. And so Beth and her family decided to move to another city and another hospital.

It is estimated that, soon, one in ten babies in the U.S. will be delivered by certified nurse-midwives. Ten years ago, when Beth was first entering the field, it was only three in one hundred. But this didn't just 'happen'. It took many Beth's to open the doors that had been shut against them so that those who followed might pass through. It took strong women (and men - currently 2% of nurse-midwives are men) who were willing to stand up to the rejection of their colleagues and peers and to refuse to be put off by them.

In Luke's Gospel we hear Jesus telling the people that “…no prophet is accepted in his own native place…” And I am reminded of Beth...

-Vinal Van Benthem