Maternal Mortality and Misconceptions

The United States ranks worst among developed nations for maternal mortality, with some underdeveloped countries faring better. Reverend Brighid Danielle Curby Hegdale believes this reality stems from treating childbirth primarily as an illness rather than a natural process. As both a priest and a doula, she has spent decades addressing myths, restoring dignity to women’s experiences, and advocating for systemic change.

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Blending Priesthood and Maternal Health

Ordained in the Reformed Anamcara Celtic Church in 2014, Danielle blends her priesthood with nearly thirty years of work in maternal and perinatal health. Her academic background spans sociology, anthropology, history, women’s and gender studies, and culminates in a master’s degree in human development and family science, along with a certificate in infant mental health. She unites scholarly insight with practical care, helping families navigate pregnancy, childbirth, and early parenting with knowledge and compassion.

Obstetrics vs. Midwifery: Two Distinct Paths

Danielle emphasizes the stark differences between obstetrics and midwifery. Obstetrics, with only a two-hundred-year history, focuses on complications and medical intervention. By contrast, midwifery has centuries of tradition centered on holistic care and wellness for families. She points out that normal, uncomplicated births make up 80 to 95 percent of cases, yet the medical system is structured as if complications were the rule. Midwives, she says, are experts at “normal,” while obstetricians are trained to manage crises.

The Role of Doulas Beyond Birth

Doulas are more than labor companions. Today, postpartum doulas assist families after birth, while others specialize in pregnancy loss, abortion, or even end-of-life care as death doulas. Each role is built on the same principle: walking alongside people during life’s most vulnerable transitions.

Challenging the System

Danielle’s TEDx talk, Maternal Health Care Isn’t Healthy, challenged long-held assumptions about childbirth in the U.S. and highlighted the lack of genuine consent in obstetric care. She explains that true consent requires informed discussion, competence, and capacity, not simply a signed form. Her graduate thesis, Consenting to Birth: A Policy Analysis of Consent and Respectful Obstetric Care, compares policies to show how women’s autonomy has been undermined by institutional practices.

Infant Mental Health and Early Learning

Danielle also sheds light on infant mental health, showing how children’s emotional well-being begins before birth. Babies absorb stress signals, learn through studying faces, and form the foundation of their social and emotional lives in the earliest months. Recognizing this underscores her holistic belief that maternal health, infant well-being, and family dynamics are deeply connected.

Answering the Call to Priesthood

Alongside her advocacy in maternal health, Danielle answered a spiritual call to priesthood. Initially resistant due to entrenched restrictions against women’s leadership, she ultimately embraced her ordination on St. Brigid’s Day. For Danielle, priesthood and midwifery intersect: both are about presence, compassion, and walking alongside others. She sees them as parallel vocations grounded in service and dignity.

Final Reflections

Danielle leaves listeners with three vital messages. First, childbirth must begin with genuine consent. Second, media depictions of birth are deeply misleading, and people should seek accurate sources such as home birth videos or Call the Midwife. Finally, she believes that both priests and midwives share the same essential role: to accompany others through life’s defining transitions with care and authenticity.

About Reverend Danielle Hegdale

The Reverend Brighid Danielle Curby Hegdale was ordained in the Reformed Anamcara Celtic Church in 2014. Her primary mission work has been maternal and perinatal health. After her first child was born, her study of Midwifery history, policy, and practice started. After almost 25 years as a Doula in the childbirth field, Danielle Hegdale became obsessed with some gestating research questions and returned to school. Her educational work included Sociology, History, Anthropology, and Women’s and Gender Studies, culminating in a Masters in Human Development and Family Science and a certificate in Infant Mental Health. Her primary baby has been the Transition of Pregnancy, namely the last weeks of pregnancy leading into childbirth. As a life philosophy, she joined the work of priest and Doula to walk alongside fellow human beings.

 https://daniellehegdale.wordpress.com/about-page/

About Margaret Mary O’Connor

Margaret Mary O’Connor, as a member of the Catholic Laity, thought she knew everything about the Catholic Church, at least until she came upon a centuries-old Scandal of lies and cover-up by the Hierarchy of that Church. Frankly, she was fed up being lied to by her own Church, about its own past Church’s History on Women priests. With that realization, she truly felt in that moment, the monumental feeling of betrayal by her own Church.

Follow Margaret, as she travels down this Highway of Radical Truth where lies and outright coverup will be disclosed. Millions of Catholics are unaware of that past presence of Women Bishop’s, Women Deacons, as well as Women Priests, all there hiding in plain sight, in Early Church History.

As the complicity of this centuries-old Scandal continues, Margaret wants her fellow Catholics to learn the actual truth of this matter for themselves. She strongly believes, at minimal, any Catholic deserves the actual truth of this matter. To say that change is needed is hardly an understatement. She doesn’t let the Church’s betrayal stop her from uncovering some very fascinating Church Skeleton’s – one which very well might help solve our current priest shortage issue today.

Margaret Mary O’Connor has been called, “The Modern Day David” on many occasions. On a mission to reveal carefully guarded secrets of the Catholic Church, she unveils the truth through her well-researched writings.

Author of Scandal in the Shadows and Journey of a Celiac’s Soul, Margaret Mary is a force to be reckoned with.