Allison Anders Quotes

I was always interested in midwifery; it was my plan B.

There was a woman in Tunisia called Madame Pinot. She was a midwife and had helped in the birth of my siblings and me. I assisted her. I helped women give birth to a lot of babies when I was very young.

I always thought my alternative life, if I wasn't acting, would be to become a midwife. I love women. I want to help them exist.

We should work to guarantee that there is a midwife or health worker by every woman's side during childbirth.

It's amazing what it opens up in women when you tell them you've just played a midwife.

I wanted to deliver babies and become a midwife. I think childbirth is one of the most amazing things you could ever experience, and I loved working with people and seeing the joys in family when they welcome a new member to it. It really brought me joy to be around that.

The best a health care system can do is to equip itself to meet the needs of each individual woman and birth. Those needs run the gamut from undisturbed home birth to planned cesarean section.

The work I do when I'm not making music is very much about service, helping women give birth or aiding in family planning.

These wretched babies don't come until they are ready.

I watched Ricki Lake's documentary, 'The Business of Being Born,' and that led me to call a midwife, and not an ob-gyn, when I found out I had conceived. My delivery was not easy - they call it 'labor,' not 'a vacation!' - but I was incredibly grateful that I did it that way.

How may child bearing women be most encouraged and supported in the time of childbearing?

I think the thread running through most midwives is the passion.

When 1970s feminism hit the United States, women demanded the right to natural childbirth and to have their husband or another support person in the delivery room. My mother gave birth to me during this time.

From conception to delivery, it has been a great experience. I was determined to give a natural birth.

I'm in training to become a midwife. I'm almost there and before I know it I'll be able to open my own practice, if that's what I desire.

After about five hours of pushing, my midwife and my birthing assistant said, 'You know, we have a few suggestions.' And I was like, 'Really? After five hours of pushing you have a few suggestions? You couldn't have told me five minutes in?'

Talking to women about birth can be polarizing.

I taught woman-centered childbirth classes for five years and have a particular interest in the history of childbirth practices.

Of course, every job I ever had I thought I was born for.

I'm one of the great unemployed looking for the next job. I'm waiting for the right offer. Like anyone, I want something that turns me on inside.

You might expect that the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists would be there and they are.

My wife and I would be very comfortable having a baby at home or using one of the terrific nurse-midwives at the hospital.

If I wasn't singing country music for a living, I was actually going to school to be a doctor.

Women who choose to breastfeed should get as much education and support as possible.

I had a C-section, and I found it fascinating. I didn't find it a sacrifice, and I didn't find it a painful experience. I found it a fascinating miracle of what a body can do.