Wendy Swetman, Delivered More Than 1,000 Babies

The midwife rode a Harley.

That's not a bad way to sum up Wendy Gay Swetman, whose calm professionalism in dealing with expectant mothers contrasted with her free-wheeling spirit off the job.

"We were hippies in the '60s in Portland," said her husband of 29 years, Richard Swetman of Everett. "Then we became Christians. I became a pastor, she became a pastor's wife and it changed everything."

But she still helped birth babies at home. And she rode motorcycles, made crafts, and engaged in spontaneous tickling with loved ones.

Mrs. Swetman - a state-licensed midwife who delivered more than 1,000 babies - died of cancer Aug. 5. She was 45.

Born in Portland, Mrs. Swetman loved children; she came to have five herself, the last four born at home.

"We had our first in a hospital, starting in the hallway, and it was a very unpleasant thing," her husband said. "The doctor was out playing golf or something."

After the couple moved to the Puget Sound area, Mrs. Swetman decided to become a professional midwife. She made clothing and cakes to sell to pay her way through a nursing course, then through Seattle Midwifery School.

"She delivered two of our children, and two of my sister's children," said Margo June. "She made the birth experience special. She had a strength of character that was incredible. When she wanted to do something she did it 100 percent."

Remembered for her ready laugh but calming ways, Mrs. Swetman could be feisty, according to her assistant and friend, Margaret Fast.

"But she taught me to be calm when you need to be, and afterward to be able to laugh or cry," Fast said.

Mrs. Swetman's husband recalls that all births were of healthy babies to healthy mothers: "We didn't take any high-risk patients."

He said they had their share of breech deliveries; other midwives would call Mrs. Swetman in unusual situations. Sometimes babies were born with a tumor, or no fingers.

"Wendy would announce it matter-of-factly, no big deal, and make the mother feel it was something that could be taken care of later. That the baby was healthy was the thing."

As Mrs. Swetman's practice flourished, she took to wearing miniskirts and leather jackets. She treated friends to restaurant dinners and getaway weekends.

"When she was able to afford nice things, she didn't hoard it," June said. "She was generous."

Mrs. Swetman's other survivors include her children, Seth, Aaron, Angela and Benjamin Swetman, of Everett, and Matthew Swetman, Lynnwood; her sister, Sandra Trujillo, and mother, Gail Jackson, Vancouver, Wash.; her brother, Grant Jackson, Portland; and two grandchildren. Services were held.