Midwives and Midwifery

Abstract

With their role in the care of women, it is assumed that midwives have practiced their craft since earliest times. Of importance to the context of this volume is the question of the extent to which midwives authored books on midwifery, contributed to depictions of “the gravid uterus and its contents,” and/or improved understanding of antenatal development. Attested by papyrus records and Bas reliefs, midwifery was a recognized practice by women in ancient Egypt. The Hebrew Torah contains several references to midwives, their characteristics and work. In medieval times, in addition to their care of the parturient, midwives baptized some newborn infants. Unfortunately, little is known of the early history of the midwife [middle English mid-wif, Latin cummater, with woman]. In part, this is a consequence of childbirth being regarded as an inferior task, or even forbidden for the physician. Also because few midwives had the benefit of formal education, for the most part their work went unrecorded and they learned their craft by serving as an apprentice. Because about 95 % of deliveries present few or no complications, the system worked quite well. Also, with it being considered highly inappropriate for a male to view, much less touch, a woman’s pelvic region, “women’s work” in serving and caring for other women was the norm.