We were lucky to catch up with Elizabeth Smith recently and have shared our conversation below.

Elizabeth, appreciate you joining us today. Is there a heartwarming story from your career that you look back on?

It was a Saturday back in the 90’s and my husband and I had decided we would go the St. George area Parade of Homes that day, so we headed over to the Red Cliff’s Mall to buy the tickets. As we walked through the Mall, looking for the booth where they sell the tickets, we passed a couple of EMT friends, a mother and daughter team, who we knew from EMT training and my husband’s work. (He worked in the local emergency room) They were wearing their radios. We talked with them for a few minutes and then walked on.
Somehow we ended up in the food court, having missed the Parade of Homes booth altogether. When we realized what had happened, we both decided to get a snack before going back through the mall. My husband went to get a taco while I grabbed an ice cream cone. As I sat eating my ice cream cone, something caught my attention outside the mall entrance doors. Those same two EMTs were out there, attending to someone in front of Walmart.
I called to my husband to tell him that something was wrong outside, but he was busy talking to someone and didn’t respond, so I set down my ice cream cone and ran out there.
When I got to the EMTs, they were kneeling on the ground, facing a young woman, who was sitting on a park bench, looking to be in distress.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
They looked up at me, seeming instantly relieved to see me, “She’s in labor!” one said.
“What are you feeling?” I asked the pregnant mother.
“It’s coming!” Her voice was filled with panic as she grunted the response.
I looked at the gloves that one EMT was wearing and asked, “Do you have anymore gloves?”
“No” she said
“Can I have those?” I asked
I put on the second-hand latex gloves and slipped my hand under the woman’s shorts to see if I could feel the baby. The head was RIGHT THERE! Mom was trying her hardest to keep it in, but was losing the battle. The EMTs told me that an ambulance was on its way. I told them that this baby was not waiting for an ambulance, nor was it safe to make this baby wait as we did not know the condition of the baby. Babies tend to stress out when their heads are being squeezed. Without something to monitor the baby, it was best to allow the baby to come. My husband had come out by then and I asked him to help us make a circle around the mom so she would have privacy.
We helped the young mother lie down on the sidewalk and circled around her, shielding her with our bodies. Some Walmart employees, were out there talking on radios, so I asked them to have someone bring us some towels.
Meanwhile, on that same sidewalk, there was a man dressed up like a chicken, who had been out in front of Walmart, trying to recruit host families for foreign exchange students. He had a big banner. I asked the man if he could throw the banner over the top of us, which he promptly did.
The woman began to panic and close her legs tightly together, fighting the emerging head, “I don’t want to have it here!” She protested, as her body pushed strongly.
I asked, “What is your name?”
“Michelle” she said.
“Michelle, I my name is Liz. I am a midwife. I have delivered hundreds of babies. Let me have your baby.”
With that, the mother relaxed, opened her legs and her baby came flying out! I caught her in mid-air and then immediately put her on her mother’s chest. Just then a Walmart t-shirt was handed under the banner and we covered the baby with it.
Michelle was looking all over the place, seeming to be in complete shock over what had just happened. I said, “Michelle, you have a beautiful baby girl. Look at her.”
As soon as I said that, someone outside of our huddle, yelled, “It’s a GIRL!” and suddenly there was an explosion of cheers and applause. Apparently a large crowd, estimated (by the local newspaper) to be over 200 people, had gathered in that short time. That’s when we heard the ambulance siren.
A manager from Orange Julius came out with a camera and asked the mother if she would like a picture. She nodded.
Soon we were joined, under our banner tent, by a few more EMTs who brought with them an emergency childbirth kit. They provided the cord clamp and scissors. I clamped the cord and then nodded to my EMT friend, asking her if she would like to do the honors.
The cord was cut and mom was loaded onto the ambulance. My husband and I walked back into the mall to buy our tickets. We walked in silence for a minute; and then I turned to him and asked, “Did we just deliver a baby at Walmart?”
“Yes we did” he said.
“Hmm, we probably should wash our hands then.” He agreed. In the ladies’ room were my EMT friends. We were all thrilled at what we had just experienced and also SO grateful that we all happened to be in the right place at the right time to help Michelle.
Later that day, after touring some Parade homes, my husband and I stopped by the hospital to see Michelle. She told us her whole story. Apparently, she was staying with a social worker and his family. She was planning to give her baby up for adoption. When she went into labor, he took her to the hospital where she was told that it would be a while and to “go walk around the mall or something.” After being dropped off at the mall with a girl friend, her contractions picked up quickly. Her friend called the social worker and asked him to come back and get them.
“But he was taking too long,” Michelle said.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I felt the calling to be a midwife after my first home birth in 1983, which was my third child. The experience was SO incredible and spiritual, that I felt like I was walking on air for several days. I knew there was a great need for more ‘GOOD’ midwives, who could provide this experience to women. Hospitals were pretty oppressive back then. Babies were taken straight from the womb to nurseries; and mothers were only allowed to see their babies during the hospital’s scheduled feeding times. Father’s weren’t allowed to hold their babies at all. No visitors were allowed during feeding times. Breastfeeding was not encouraged by hospitals. For these reasons and many others, the home birth movement was exploding.

I had wanted to be a nurse since age 5 and had completed all my pre-requisites. There were no midwife programs at local colleges back then. Certified Nurse Midwives were a brand new profession in the USA. Most were European-trained and were forbidden from attending home births. Nurses would surely lose their licenses if they were caught attending a home birth. There was a lot of animosity between medical professionals and home birth midwives and the battle was vicious.

There was no internet back then, nor schools of midwifery, so we learned through apprenticeships and self-study of midwife textbooks from Europe. Prior to seeking out an apprenticeship, I applied for nursing school and was accepted. After confiding in the Dean that my goal was to be a midwife rather than a nurse, she kindly sat down with me and helped me customize an education plan, eliminating a couple of classes that I wasn’t going to need, such as pharmacology, which I later had to take in order to become certified and licensed in 2006 when Utah legislators passed laws enabling midwives, like myself, to become licensed medical professionals. They grandfathered us in under an “Experienced Midwife” avenue that no longer exists today.
Those of us who certified and licensed this way went through a lot of scrutiny to prove our skills and knowledge, even though it is believed that midwives, who train through apprenticeships, make the best midwives.

After 2 years of College and home study, I began my apprenticeship in November of 1985 with a very experienced, skilled and busy mentor. I was her sole apprentice and shadow for two and a half years before I began taking my own clients with her nearby.

Now, 38 years later, I have been midwife to 1,814 babies to date. I have been a mentor to many student midwives and doulas, over the years, as an official preceptor for the North American Registry of Midwives. I currently have one apprentice and one professional assistant who work with me.

As a CPM/LM I provide complete pregnancy, birth and postpartum care to low risk mothers and their babies. Mothers have the choice of delivering at home or at our free-standing birth center, “The Birth Sweet” in down town St. George.

Fathers are encouraged to be as involved as they want to be, even catching their own babies, if they would like, and are acknowledged as a valuable member of the birthing team.

Babies are treated with gentleness and kindness. They go immediately to their mothers. Any needed stimulation or resuscitation can usually be performed while in the mother’s arms but at least right by her side. We don’t take babies away from their mothers.

When asked what I am most passionate about, it is definitely the babies. I want to make sure that their first moments of life on this Earth are pleasant and positive for them. Of course, I also love building relationships with the rest of the family as well. I love helping mothers conquer the challenge of natural childbirth and experience the fulness of joy that comes from it.

My model of care focuses first on prevention of complications through quality prenatal care. In reality, the majority of prenatal care isn’t given by doctors and midwives but by the woman herself. We typically only see them for “Check-ups.” which is a small amount of time compared to the time that they are in their own care at home. Therefore, it is important that each client knows how to care for herself properly. It’s my job to teach, support, motivate and to be available to her when she has questions or concerns. This type of healthcare is becoming extinct which is very unfortunate. My clients have full access to me 24/7. They can text, call or come to my home if they have a concern that can’t wait until their next appointment.

My second priority is to work WITH nature to solve problems – whenever possible. I consider myself an expert in natural remedies. Most pregnancy problems can be cured or controlled with food, herbs or other natural means. Although I have drug privileges, I prefer not to use drugs unless I have to.

I believe whole-heartedly in “Informed Consent.” Except in the case of an emergency, in which there is no time for discussion, clients will always be encouraged to make their own decisions regarding their care after being fully informed.

After we have done all we can to create a low risk situation, I am still ever watchful for any symptom of a complication arising during labor. I do not hesitate to recommend a transfer to a hospital if at any point a situation becomes unsafe to remain at home. For low risk women, who live within 20 mins of a hospital, who have ‘planned’ a home birth and who have hired a competent birth attendant; home birth, statistically, is safer than a hospital birth.

I am a midwife because I truly am passionate about what I do. I believe in God and that He has called me to this work. I will never go to a birth without Him. I’ve witnessed many miracles at His hand. Home Birth is a beautiful way to have a baby and a safe option. Even after 38 years, I still love what I do.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I truly love and care about my clients. I think they know that. I am adamant about safety. I’m also pretty particular about birth ethics. Each person is only born once. Birth must be respected. My biggest issue with hospital birth is the sometimes lack of respect for the sacred event that is taking place. It’s less personal there, which leads to light-mindedness and “Routine” thinking. I can understand how it would be hard to be super sentimental and reverent when one sees several births in one shift, but they should try harder to do so.

I don’t know what my reputation is to everyone. It probably depends who you talk to. All midwives are different and I’m sure there are those who don’t care for my style and personality. That’s ok. There are three good midwives in St. George. We are all different. That’s a good thing… and we all stay busy.

If you could go back, would you choose the same profession, specialty, etc.?

I believe that this is what I was born to do, so YES! Sometimes I dream about having a profession that gives me REAL time off, but then there is SO much I would be missing. There are other professions I know I would have been good at, but they seem so boring compared to what I do, I REALLY love being a midwife. It’s the best job for so many reasons.

Contact Info:

• Website: babybizliz.com or thebirthsweet.com
• Facebook: Elizabeth Wyson Smith or The Birth Sweet