Ricardo Jones and his wife, Neusa,
are from the Southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre.
Birth is their calling.
But not just any birth.
Home birth. Natural birth.
Humanized birth, where the mothers and their babies come first,
Where the mothers are embraced and supported,
Where they’re empowered.
Because birth is not a sickness.
It’s not an illness. It’s not a problem.
It is a gift. A passage.
It is, perhaps, the most sacred moment of a mother’s and a family’s life,
And women have been giving birth since the dawn of the human race.
Ric Jones and his wife Neusa work together.
He is an obstetrician. Neusa is an obstetrics nurse.
But they embrace the ancestral knowledge of midwives.
And they are running uphill
Amid a system that is stacked against them.
In Brazil… nearly 60% of births are c-sections.
In fact, it’s one of the countries with the highest c-section rate in the world.
That is, in part, because doctors can charge more for c-sections, and they can do more births in a day.
In private hospitals, the c-section rate is even higher — around 90%.
The World Health Organization says c-section rates should be closer to 15%…
Because in some cases, c-sections are necessary. They can save lives.
But when they aren’t necessary, more medical intervention costs more money and leads to higher risks.
Three times the risk of disease or death, over a normal birth.
Ric Jones and his wife have tried to do things the other way…
Naturally. Minimal intervention, unless it is needed.
Ric Jones and his wife, Neusa, have delivered more than 2,000 babies.
Some babies who are now parents of their own.
But for their work, Ric and Neusa Jones are under attack.
On March 27, 2025, Ric Jones was convicted of first-degree murder,
15 years after one of the thousands of babies he delivered died of congenital pneumonia in the hospital, 24 hours after the child was born at home.
Ric Jones received a sentence of 14 years in prison.
His wife, 11 years.
Ric Jones spent three weeks in prison.
He is now out while they await the decision over the appeal…
But a movement has grown in their defense.
Parents, midwives, doulas, birth activists are standing up.
They’ve denounced the case against them.
They’ve denounced Ric Jones’s imprisonment.
They are demanding justice
For Ric and Neusa Jones.
They say that for their care and their love,
And their outspokenness in defense of humanized birth,
Brazil’s medical establishment is trying to make an example out of them.
And Ric and Neusa Jones are not the only health professionals and natural-birth midwives being criminalized.
In Europe, the United States, and Latin America
lawyers are taking midwives to court
To try to end their work forever,
And leave the birthing to the hospitals.
Ricardo Jones says, “The criminalization of natural childbirth is an international phenomenon and is in line with the interests of the medical industry, which controls childbirth care in the West, and hospital institutions, the pharmaceutical industry, etc. that profit from longer hospital stays, drug use, beds, dressings, health insurance, ICU stays, etc. In other words, all those who profit from the “wheel of fortune” of capitalism involved in healthcare. The risk we run is the complete artificialization of birth, where no child will be born through the efforts and determination of his or her mother, but through the time and skills of a third party, who will do it according to their interests.”
But mothers, midwives, doulas, and birth activists will not go silently.
They are speaking out.
From Brazil and across the planet, women are demanding their right to birth whenever, wherever and however they want…
Be it in a hospital or in their home.
To birth is not just their right. It is an honor and a gift.
And it should not be up to the busy high-paid doctors and the medical establishment
To decide how each mother should bring her child into the world.
Their right to birth how they want is under attack,
As are midwives across the planet.
But they will not go silently.
They are fighting.
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Hi folks, thanks for listening.
Today, May 5th is the Day of the Midwife. It’s really pretty surprising the number of lawsuits against midwives and natural-birth obstetricians in countries across the world that are trying to stop these powerful men and women from doing their job, and continuing with their calling.
If you’d like to learn more, I’ve included some links in the show notes.
As always, I’m your host Michael Fox. This is Stories of Resistance, a new podcast series co-produced by The Real News and Global Exchange. Each week, I bring you stories of resistance and hope like this. Inspiration for dark times. If you like what you hear, please subscribe, like, share, comment or leave a review.
You can also check out exclusive pictures, follow my reporting, and support my work at my patreon, www.patreon.com/mfox.
As always, thanks for listening. See you next time.
This is episode 29 of Stories of Resistance — a podcast co-produced by The Real News and Global Exchange. Independent investigative journalism, supported by Global Exchange’s Human Rights in Action program. Each week, we’ll bring you stories of resistance like this. Inspiration for dark times.
If you like what you hear, please subscribe, like, share, comment, or leave a review. You can also follow Michael’s reporting and support at www.patreon.com/mfox.
Written and produced by Michael Fox.
Resources:
Each country has its own rules, laws and legislation regarding home birth, natural birth, and humanized birth.
Most of this episode is focused on Brazil, where caesarean section rates are some of the highest in the world, and natural-birth and home-birth midwives, obstetricians, and doulas say they have felt clear marginalization and abuse by mainstream health professionals.
In the United States, home births are actually on the rise, with more midwives and doulas being certified, but as more and more states move to legalize homebirth, it’s also created a legal grey area.
Overall, women and men carrying out these home and natural births in many countries say they feel targeted for their work.
Below is a small list of lawsuits against natural birth midwives in numerous countries. They say this is part of a movement to end humanized and home birth. In many of these cases, midwives were accused or convicted of manslaughter. Ric Jones was convicted of murder, intentionally killing the baby.
Canada (2025): Midwife Gloria Lemay
Charged with manslaughter.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/gloria-lemay-charged-manslaughter-1.7425173
Austria (2025): Midwife Margerete Wana
Convicted of causing the death of the baby. Supported by the baby’s mother.
https://www.instagram.com/thea.maillard/p/DGNHrG8sjSo/
https://www.theamaillard.com/post/charlotte
UK (2025): Manslaughter charges after homebirth.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/mar/13/coffs-harbour-midwives-court-home-birth-death-baby-ntwnfb
Australia (2019): Lisa Barrett
Charged with manslaughter. Found not guilty.
https://www.9news.com.au/national/south-australian-midwife-found-not-guilty-of-manslaughter/1474102c-ccfc-4617-9f60-5be32d881b7a
United States (2019): Elizabeth Catlin
Arrested in 2019 and indicted on 95 felony accounts, including criminal homicide.
https://msmagazine.com/2025/05/04/arrest-the-midwife-documentary-film-review-laws-mennonite-new-york/
Germany (2014): Midwife Anna Rockel-Loenhoff
Sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison for manslaughter.
https://frauenfilmfest.com/en/event/hoerkino-tod-eines-neugeborenen-eine-hebamme-vor-gericht/
Hungary (2012): Conviction of midwife Agnes Gereb. Jailed, placed under house arrest and then granted clemency.
https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/case/agnes-gereb-persecuted-midwifery
United States (2017): Vickie Sorensen
Charged with manslaughter. Sentenced to prison.
https://apnews.com/general-news-7928ca64d42c4e67aae2c382609d296f
United States (2011): Karen Carr
Charged with manslaughter.
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/midwife-karen-carr-pleads-guilty-felonies-babys-death/story?id=13583237
Here is a link to an article in English about the case against Ric Jones in Brazil, and how it fits into the larger international framework: https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/midwifes-14-year-sentence-highlights-attacks-womens-autonomy-global-surge-unnecessary-c
Here is the link for the Instagram group in Brazil created in defense of Ric and Neusa Jones: https://www.instagram.com/freericjones
Here is a statement from the International Confederation of Midwives calling for an end to the criminalization of midwifery, from a decade ago: https://internationalmidwives.org/resources/statement-on-stopping-the-criminalisation-of-midwifery
An incredible resource from Ms. Magazine about midwives, midwifery in the United States, and a new documentary about a criminalized midwife and Mennonite women who supported her: https://msmagazine.com/2025/05/04/arrest-the-midwife-documentary-film-review-laws-mennonite-new-york/
This post was originally published on The Real News Network.