Indie McDowell & Atsede Kidane

Indie is a classically trained anthropologist and a clinically trained midwife. Graduating first from the University of Cambridge, she then spent time working in Kyrgyzstan with UNICEF’s Maternal and Neonatal Health Team before returning to the UK to complete her midwifery training. Following that, Indie took up positions in Cambodia and Malawi before finally settling in Ethiopia. After a year and a half running the neonatal services and the emergency obstetric response at a busy referral hospital in the rural south-west of the country with Atsede, they chose instead to open their own clinic, where compassionate and women- centred care could take centre stage. 

Atsede is a Gurage midwife with over a decade of experience dedicated to the women of Cheha woreda. She grew up a stone’s throw from the hospital where she would later become the senior midwife, catching almost ten thousand babies and intervening in countless emergencies, touching many lives. She is a much-loved and well-respected member of the community, with women walking for hours to see her. After running the delivery room at the busy referral hospital, Atsede took up a post at a local health centre to try to improve the maternity services before coming together with Indie to open their own birth centre. 

Atsede was awarded the International Midwife of the Year Award in 2019, a tribute to her love of her profession and her passion for working to right the wrongs of health inequalities.

Upcoming book:

WITH TWO SOULS - Pinter & Martin -  15th September 2022 

Recollections of birth and death, joy and tragedy that reveal the reality of maternity care in a remote setting.

In 2016, English midwife Indie joined the staff at Attat Hospital in south-western Ethiopia, where Atsede led the midwifery services. It was a meeting that would change their lives. Their close professional relationship, and deep personal friendship, led to them opening a birth centre serving the Gurage women and families of Cheha Woreda, bringing compassionate midwifery care into the heart of traditional communities.

Through the two midwives’ eyes, as they recount stories from the women they have cared for over the years, we experience the lives of the Gurage people in rich detail. From one night shift which saw Atsede attend 16 births, and 17 babies born, to the day there was a donkey mysteriously tied up inside the hospital. By way of undiagnosed birth defects, the ramifications of female circumcision, obstetric emergencies, and long hours of ordinary, extraordinary births, what shines through is a deep and abiding love for the women in their care, and respect for each other and the colleagues they work alongside.

A must-read for anyone with an interest in birth or maternal health, With Two Souls, the translation of the Chehaguraginya word hwetarwa, meaning pregnant, is a fascinating and moving insight into what birth can tell us about people and places, and how, when our eyes and hearts are open, we can embrace our differences and work together to benefit our communities.

Praise: