 | Staff Midwife, AABC
"I grew up in Germany, where women helping women during childbirth was the norm. As a child, I always wanted to be one of those ’helpers’. When expecting my own three children, I used the services of my midwife colleagues. I fully understand parents' need to feel empowered and make their own decisions during this life-changing time. Childbirth is one of the most important and joyful events in a woman's life; I enjoy doing my part."
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Education and Certifications
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- University of Leipzig, Germany 1978-1981: six semesters of Midwifery studies, Certified as Midwife in Germany
- Certified Professional Midwife license #04090004
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Professional Experience
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- Austin Area Birthing Center, Inc. 2005 Certified Professional Midwife
- Austin Area Birthing Center, Inc. (1998-2004) Postpartum midwife and birth assistant
- Klinix-Bosse, Wittenberg, Germany (1983-1985): Staff Midwife in Hospital; In summary, I delivered 426 babies without doctor's assistance as a hosptial midwife in Germany (normal births);assisted doctors with vacuum and forcep deliveries, breech and ceasarian births; cared for mothers in risky pregnancies; general counsel for pregnant mothers; postpartum care for newborns and mothers; breastfeeding counsel
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Personal Birth Experience
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I have four children, all born with midwives.
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Twenty-six years ago, Roswitha Elisabeth Dowell was certified as a nurse midwife in Germany where she was born, grew up, and began assisting women in giving birth. Today, Roswitha's background and experience provide a rich and integral addition to the Austin Area Birthing Center.
Roswitha has assisted hundreds of families as a post partum caregiver for over a decade. Because her German midwifery license didn't transfer to America, she completed midwifery schooling in the U.S. and is certified in both countries.
"Midwifery is something I have always loved," she says. "I think that pregnancy and birth are miracles. It's wonderful to believe in and work around miracles."
After completing her midwifery certification in Germany, Roswitha studied voice and music, and received an additional degree in music. A single mother with two young children at that time, she performed as an opera singer and taught voice lessons. Then her life completely changed with a long distance blind date.
"A friend of mine in Germany told me he wanted me to meet a friend of his who was a Texan," she recalls. "He thought we would hit it off because we both were opera singers and loved music. I joked that we should meet."
Meeting Joe Dowell proved to be no joke. He visited her in Germany and by the time his six-month stay was over, the two were in love. They married in Austin in 1996, but Roswitha had to return to Germany almost immediately. It took a year for paperwork to be completed in order for her to join her husband in Austin. She and Joe were reunited and able to begin their lives together in November 1997.
And performing opera and teaching voice was not an option for Roswitha anymore, as at the time, she spoke no English.
"It is very hard to teach voice in a different language if you don?t speak it well," Roswitha explains. "With singing, it is all about pronunciation- and I could do that well in German, but not in English."
She found that because many medical terms are in Latin, she was able to understand birthing and midwifery writing and conversations. So she looked for work as a care provider until she became fluent in English.
She started working as a post partum caregiver at AABC in June 1998 and began helping women in Austin following their births. She began learning English very quickly and enjoyed her new life. Her children, son Marian and Clara, settled into life in Texas. The couple had a child of their own, Emma, in 2001. She was delivered at home, attended by a midwife.
Soon thereafter, tragedy struck the Dowell home when Roswitha's 15-year-old daughter Clara was diagnosed with leukemia and died.
"She was the healthiest person you can imagine," she says. "All of a sudden, she got a cold and it didn't go away. It was terrible."
Heartbroken, Roswitha continued studying to complete her midwifery certification and working to provide support to mothers and babies after labor. None of her hours of work as a midwife in Germany transferred, so she essentially had to start over in the training process. Faced with the devastating loss of her daughter and having to start from scratch in her certification, she continued to put in the hours required.
She was happy to find out she was pregnant again and gave birth to another daughter, Lydia, in 2005. Lydia was born at home before the attending midwife could arrive.
"I caught her myself in my own hands," Roswitha says. "Joe was a little panicked, but it worked out fine and the midwife arrived soon afterward."
Now, she and her husband and two young daughters live in Round Rock. She visits her family in Germany often. She was the attending midwife at her sister's birth and her family often comes to the Austin area to visit.
"No birth is ever the same," she says. "I personally love to work with each woman and look at her individual needs and help figure out what will best fit for her. I want to help each mother have a birth that is memorable and is the birth they would like. The experience should be tailored to that woman and her family."
The beautiful facility at AABC offers a great deal of options for the laboring mother, she says.
"It is relaxing and beautiful," she says. "And the tubs in each room are nice. Water is such a helpful tool in birthing."
When Roswitha isn't supporting birthing mothers or mothering her own young daughters, she enjoys reading; especially mystery novels. Still, it is motherhood and working with mothers that brings her the greatest satisfaction."You chose the profession you want and if you are lucky, you can have it," she says. "I am lucky."
