Taken from Cara Muhlhahn's book, Labor of Love: A Midwife's Memoir about the interconnectedness of spirituality and childbirth...

"We were raised without formal religion, but my parents fostered a sense of awe for the divine powers of nature. They taught us to accept absolutely everyone, for which I am very grateful. My mother- half Italian, half Irish, and raised Catholic- turned her back on the church. She was opposed to the notion that Jews and other non-Catholics would get stuck in purgatory and never make it into heaven.

As a result, I have come to know God in my own way and on my own terms through the work I do. Day after day, I deliver babies, save lives, experience and facilitate near miracles. It would be impossible to do the work I do and not become acutely aware of the presence of...something. Maybe it's not an old man with a long beard or a majestic earth mother with a crown of garlands. But I get the sense that some sort of powerful "forces" out there provide order to this divine mess called life."