Austin Area Birthing Center - Your Austin Birth Center

Twenty-six years ago, Roswitha Elisabeth Dowell was certified to be a midwife in Germany � where she was born and grew up �and she began assisting women in giving birth. Today, Roswitha's background and experience provide a rich and welcome addition to the Austin Area Birthing Center as she begins her tenure as a full time midwife.

Roswitha is a familiar face at AABC � having assisted hundreds of families as a post partum caregiver for the past nine years. Because her German midwifery license didn't transfer to America, she completed midwifery schooling here as well and is now certified in both countries.

"Midwifery is something I have always loved," she says. "I always think that pregnancy and birth are miracles. And, 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. But, her life would completely change through a very 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 in Roswitha's life � he visited 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 were able to begin their lives together in November 1997.

But performing opera and teaching voice were not really options anymore for Roswitha, as she spoke no English.

"It is very hard to teach voice in a different language if you can not speak it," Roswitha explains. "With singing it is all about pronouncing - and I could do that 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 and so she looked for work as a care provider until she could become more familiar with the language and certified in America.

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 daughter Clara � settled into life in Texas. The couple had a child of their own � daughter Emma � in 2001. She was delivered at home, attended by a midwife.

Tragedy struck the Dowell home the next year 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 still 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 had essentially had to start all over again 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 � she was the attending midwife at her sister's birth � and her family often comes to the Austin area to visit.

Roswitha says she is looking forward to her full time midwifery work at AABC.

"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."

On a recent Saturday, Roswitha assisted three mothers who were birthing at the same time. Water was helping and soothing to them all, she says.

"I stay in tune with what every mother is needing, giving them the freedom to labor," she says. "I want them to choose how they labor and support them every way I can."

When Roswitha isn't supporting birthing mothers or mothering her own young daughters, she enjoys reading � especially mystery novels.

"Our house looks like a library with books everywhere," she laughs. "I love getting lost in a good book."

Still, it is motherhood and working with mothers that brings her complete satisfaction.

"You chose the profession you want and if you are lucky, you can have it," she says. "I am lucky."

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