In this powerful episode, I sit down with Diane Ortega, a Certified Nurse Midwife and co-founder of the first nurse-midwife-owned freestanding birth center in Arizona. Diane shares her personal journey from being an office manager to becoming a midwife, a path inspired by her own "profoundly different" and empowering birth experience with midwives after a conventional hospital birth.

Our conversation is a deep dive into the philosophy of midwifery as an act of "mothering the mother". We discuss the "medical-industrial complex" and how the current system often disempowers women through fear-based tactics, taking away their choices in a process that should be empowering. Diane challenges the "healthy mom, healthy baby" narrative, pointing out that it often dismisses the emotional trauma a mother may experience during birth, which she then has to process while navigating new motherhood.

Diane also introduces her podcast and coaching brand, "The Midwife Life" , which expands the concept of midwifery beyond childbirth to support all women "midwifing something in their life" —whether it's new motherhood or a midlife career change. We explore the critical need for a "village," a community of support that is often missing for modern women, and how she is building programs to help women find that connection.

You'll also hear about:

(01:32) Diane's work making out-of-hospital birth accessible to more families by accepting almost all insurance.
(03:30) How she views midwifery and mothering as "very similar, if not the same".
(13:15) The fear-based culture surrounding birth and how it disempowers women from trusting their bodies.
(22:21) Why birth is "not a medical event until it is," and how hospital protocols are often based on tradition, not evidence.
(23:20) My personal story of choosing a home birth, which was sparked by the simple, primal desires to be able to eat and control the lighting.
(27:57) The loss of the "village" for modern mothers and the isolation that comes from being a "transplant" without family support.
(38:23) The one cultural mother code Diane would rewrite: the "ridiculous" expectation that women should "bounce right back" after giving birth.
(43:52) My update on my TEDx talk being censored for including information on the high U.S. maternal mortality rate and the "hostile takeover" of birth from midwives.
(49:43) Diane's final definition of "Rewrite the Mother Code": "releasing the societal norms" and "put[ting] our oxygen mask on first".

Rate, Review, & Follow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you listen to podcasts!

Learn more about Diane Ortega

Learn more on her Website
Follow her on Instagram
Listen to her Podcast
Learn more about her Coaching Program

Follow Dr. Gertrude:

Learn more on Dr. Gertrude’s Website
Follow Dr. Gertrude on Instagram
Stay in the loop and sign up to Dr. Gertrude’s Substack
Order Dr. Gertrude’s new book “Rewrite the Mother Code”