Dear Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Yoko Komiyama,

I recently visited Japan to learn about traditional midwifery and Asian medicine. I was fortunate to be able to spend two days at a traditional birth house in the Tokyo area. As president and founder of the Chicago birth network, my goal was to be able to share what I learned with practitioners in the U.S.

My experience was amazing and wonderful! I learned that there are 24 birth houses and 23 home-birth midwives still in existence in the Tokyo area. In the U.S., home birth and birth-center birth are increasing in popularity.