MEXICO PART I

Getting here was probably the hardest part so far. Not because it was super remote or off-grid, but because airport chaos delayed me by almost two days, but arriving in Ciudad Obregón made me forget all of it in a second.

Driving through the city felt strangely familiar, almost like being back in Texas. Cowboy boots, hats, massive trucks, Starbucks drive-thrus. It made me realize how much of what people associate with “American cowboy culture” is rooted here in Northern Mexico.

I was welcomed by an incredbily warm and kind family <3

Over the next days I interviewed doctors, pregnant women, doulas, and got to meet people from the Yaqui Tribe, an Indigenous community in Sonora that has preserved strong cultural traditions and identity despite generations of resistance and displacement. I met a doctor who deeply inspired me. He mainly works as a pediatrician, but he kept continuing his education far beyond his own profession. Besides medicine he trained as a doula, lactation counselor, and in several other areas connected to maternal care.

Not because he wanted to suddenly become all of those things, but because he wanted to understand how he could become a better doctor for his patients. How he could better support the mother, and therefore also the child.

He told me that after witnessing births, he sometimes felt overwhelmed, that he realized he didn’t actually know how to support women emotionally or physically in those moments, and instead of ignoring that feeling, he decided to learn. For everyone wondering what exactly a doula is: A doula is someone who supports women emotionally, physically, and informationally throughout pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. Unlike midwives or doctors, doulas usually don’t provide medical care or deliver babies. Their role is more about continuous support, advocacy, comfort, and simply being there.

Midwives, on the other hand, are medically trained professionals responsible for the clinical care of both mother and baby during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum.

I think what inspired me so much about him is that he cared enough to ask: How can I understand women better ? How can I support women better, even outside of medicine ?

In most medical settings doulas, midwives, and doctors don’t always get along that well. Which I never fully understood. I think I mentioned this in another blog post already, but shouldn’t we all have the same goal?

And yet so often there’s tension, fear that someone is taking something away from us, fear that another profession is overstepping.

But I think when we stop listening to each other, that’s when women are actually the ones who lose. So whenever I meet people who rebelliously go against this dynamic, people who stay curious instead of getting defensive, I get incredibly inspired.

I honestly wish more people in our healthcare system had the same driv

e as Dr. Diego Benavides.

After exploring the north of Mexico, I continued my journey south to Yucatán.

And honestly it almost felt like entering a different world.

While the north was dry heat, dusty winds, cowboy boots, and landscapes that sometimes felt almost desert-like, the south felt like the complete opposite with it's lush greenery, thick humidity, jungle sounds, colorful houses.

Yucatán was a blast, not only did a midwife friend from Germany come join me for this very last part of my travels but I also got to reconnect with some old friends, which made my final 10 days feel almost perfect.

We got to talk to and interview a Mayan woman who shared stories about her births and birth experiences within her community. When I asked if she had any advice for pregnant women, I was a little shocked hearing her say that women shouldn’t nap during pregnancy, because here napping is often seen as lazy, even when you're pregnant.

And somehow… this is a theme I keep stumbling upon over and over again.Not only here, but also back home in Germany and in other places I've visited along this trip.

Women feeling guilty for being tired, feeling like they’re “doing nothing.” feeling lazy because they need rest. So here are a few words:

Maybe this is an unpopular opinion, but I honestly believe women should have way more rest and support especially in the beginning of pregnancy.

In those first weeks, the body is doing absolutely insane things. The foundations for an entire human are being built. Organs start forming. Tiny limbs develop. Bones. Fingernails. A heart that suddenly begins to beat only a few weeks in. And just because you can’t visibly see pregnancy yet, doesn’t mean the body isn’t working. It’s working overtime 24/7 without a break. That exhaustion so many women feel in early pregnancy, it's not weakness or laziness! Your body is literally creating a human from scratch… that’s hard work. So give credit to all the mamas you know, the pregnant women that feel insecure about all these things happening in their body not knowing what exactly is happening!

Nap! Your body deserves it. One thing I found incredibly fascinating while being in Yucatán was learning more about Mayan beliefs and traditions around pregnancy and birth.

The Maya are one of the oldest Indigenous civilizations in Central America and southern Mexico, with communities and traditions that still very much exist today, especially in places like Yucatán, Chiapas and Guatemala. I interviewed a traditional Mayan midwife who shared stories, rituals, and beliefs around fertility, pregnancy, and birth with me and my friend. She explained that many traditional midwives believe they are chosen through dreams. As young girls, they dream of becoming midwives and receive signs, guidance, or even the tools they will later use in birth work. Knowledge is then passed down through mothers, grandmothers, experienced midwives, and through attending births themselves.

Pregnancy is not only seen as something physical, but emotional, energetic, spiritual, and deeply connected to community. One thing that I didn't expect was how much responsibility is also placed on the husband and family. Midwives don’t only care for the pregnant woman physically — they also pay attention to her emotional wellbeing, her relationships, whether she feels loved, supported, stressed, or lonely.

The midwife told me that sadness, fighting, stress, or feeling uncared for can affect both mother and baby. And honestly… even from a modern medical perspective, we know today that chronic stress and emotional strain during pregnancy can impact both physical and mental health. Some traditional healers are also able to communicate with what they describe as the spirit of the woman or baby. Through rituals, prayers, pulse reading, plants, massage, and ceremonies they try to protect both mother and child throughout pregnancy and birth. We talked about births inside temazcals — traditional sweat lodges — fertility rituals and medicinal plants. There was something incredibly beautiful about how much trust, reverence, and meaning is given to pregnancy and birth. Not as a medical emergency by default. But as something sacred.