ABSTRACT
In 2005, in Birmingham, Ruth Weston, an ‘ordinary’ mother, gave a speech at a midwifery conference during which she described her struggle to have the home water births she wanted for her babies. She explored her experiences through her understanding of liberation theology as she had tried to live it for many years as a church worker. Listening to her speech was the kind of experience which does not happen very often in a lifetime; Ruth Weston held the attention of the audience for every second that she was speaking – midwives, managers, academics and mothers alike. The audience instantly and unanimously recognized that what she was saying was right, that the analysis she was providing as a woman and mother of four children, rather than as a health professional, was cutting to the heart of what was wrong with the maternity service. It was a case where any resistance by professionals to ‘being told how things should be’ by a lay person melted away in the face of Ruth’s passion and intelligence. The excuses and the prevarications which everyone present knew they had engaged in at some point while being a part of the maternity service, either as employee or as client, were laid bare and by the end of the speech, everyone was convinced that change was essential if the relationship between medicine, midwifery and women was not to become toxic and destructive of the integrity of all concerned. Ruth did not speak for very long but when she had finished, the audience did not merely rise to their feet, but leapt up to give her a standing, cheering ovation which it was difficult to quell. Many people were in tears. The conference was arrested for an indeterminate time until people regained control of their emotions.
