Ina May Gaskin, MA, CPM, is founder and director of the Farm Midwifery Center, located near Summertown, Tennessee. This 37-year-old midwifery service is noted for its women-centered care.

Early in her career, while in the mountains of Guatemala, she learned an effective method for dealing with shoulder dystocia from indigenous midwives. Her campaign to promote this low-intervention maneuver began in 1985. Fourteen years later “The Gaskin Maneuver” became the first obstetrical procedure to be named for a midwife in this era. It is now included in obstetric textbooks as one of the most effective methods for dealing with a feared complication. The Farm Midwifery Center is noted for its low rates of intervention, morbidity and mortality despite the inclusion of many vaginally delivered breeches, twin and grand multiparas.

Author of Spiritual Midwifery (1975, revised 2002) and Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth (2003), Ina May promotes joyful birth, maintenance of breech skills and has popularized the use of the Gaskin maneuver for shoulder dystocia. She is originator and curator of the Safe Motherhood Quilt Project.

Ina May’s Website

Ina May’s presentations:
Childbirth and Maternal Mortality in the U.S. (more details coming soon!)