I made what may have seemed to be a nonsequitor comment to a post here at RHRealityCheck.org. 
I love the post, and I really agree with everything it has to say about
promoting reproductive health in the Latina community; what the post
advocates as beneficial to Latinas is beneficial to all women
throughout their reproducitve years.  And I think midwifery care has a vital role to play in that. 

Women
carrying wanted pregnancies are prime targets for wellness promotion
and health education.  We are motivated to make the best choices for
our babies, and no matter what we learned in health class, it was not
enough.  For many of us, we learned next to nothing about the workings
of our bodies, in pregnancy or otherwise.  Midwives are knowledgable
about sexual health, contraception, nutrition, and anatomy and
physiology with a special focus on the reproducitve process.  We are
entry points for well women into the health care system.  In the
process of helping women stay healthy in pregnancy & prepare to
give birth, midwives share their knowlege and trust that the woman
knows best in her own lives.  As we provide our clients with full
infomed consent, allowing them room choose the interventions the find
valuable during the childbearing year, help them learn to negotiate the
healthcare system.  Using models like Centering Pregnancy,
women can learn from us how to provide their own healthcare.  In this
model, women leave pregnancy feeling nurtured, having gained life
skills that will serve them as mothers and beyond.  Community doula programs can provide similar education and empowerment.  But these care models, including doulas and midwives (direct-entry Certified Professional Midwives
as well as Nurse-Midwives) need to be avaiable to all women, regardless
of income or insurance overage.  If midwifery is a vital component of
health care reform, it can also save billions of dollars and improve maternal and child health, which is abysmal in this supposedly advanced nation. 

I look forward to serving women as a midwife, and I want more women to become inspired to serve their communities in this way.