In studying the figure of the midwife, it is essential to first understand the complicated history of the figure, who has long been associated with witchcraft and secrecy. Through the acceptance of the unruly woman, and the maintaining of matriarchal spaces in The Birth House, McKay advocates for a matriarchal society which values the physical and emotional experiences of women over the rational order of the patriarchy. The Birth House opens sometime in the midst of World War I, and chronicles the life of central character Dora Rare, as she embraces the practice of midwifery, and in doing so embraces the folkloric traditions passed down to her from matriarch midwife Miss. Ami McKay’s novel The Birth House presents both maritime lore and superstition, in relation to the female, through McKay’s explorations of motherhood, childbirth, and midwifery practices.
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