Ten years ago in August, I had the good fortune to meet Anne Frye under 

a shady tree in Michigan. We were both attending the Michigan Women's Music 

Festival and had sought out a gathering of midwives. A physician in the early 

years of my training in obstetrics and gynecology, I definitely felt like the outsider 

at that gathering.  But, a shared concern for birthing women  and my genuine 

respect for Anne's knowledge and academic bent lead  us to stay in touch and 

become friends. 

Today, again a warm summer day, I  am writing this foreword with my 

newborn daughter on my lap.  Although I am an obstetrician and have practiced in 

· hospital settings, my daughter was born at home.  We were attended by the 

independent midwives in our community. 

Why would I, or any woman; choose to give birth at home with midwives? 

This textbook has answered that question. 

Over the past 25 years, the courageous North American midwives that have 

practiced outside medical institutions  have been creating a new standard  of 

maternity care.  Anne's book is a milestone in this  historic process and the 

culmination of the modern North American homebirth movement to date. 

This textbook should dispel some of the  mistaken beliefs  held by my 

colleagues; that midwives are unskilled and uneducated; that they irrationally resist 

the application of modem obstetrical practices; that they do not know how to 

identify or deal with complications when these arise.