History of midwives

It's very common in the Philippines that midwives attend to a pregnant needs. Aside from their charge is cheap or free of charge, you can also ask their help at no monetary cost. Not to mention to go to your house for a check-up in case you have trouble going to the health centers. Midwives are commonly paid by the government but there are some who have their own clinics.

Now, I wanna share with you how midwifery/midwives started. It's important to know the history for our own understanding.

HISTORY:

The word "midwife" comes from Old English and means "with woman." Midwives have helped women deliver babies since the beginning of history. References to midwives are found in ancient Hindu records, in Greek and Roman manuscripts, and even in the Bible.

As early as 1560, Parisian midwives had to pass a licensing examination and abide by regulations to practice. Not all midwives had this level of education, however. English midwives received little formal training and weren't licensed until 1902. America inherited the English model of midwifery.

Early American midwives usually learned their craft through apprenticeship and tradition. They remained ignorant of scientific advances in fighting infection through hygiene and drugs such as penicillin. By the early 20th century, women and their babies were more likely to die under the care of midwives than under the care of doctors.

Around this time, American medical doctors began a campaign against midwifery in the press, the courts, and Congress. They cited the poor outcomes for mothers and babies under the care of midwives. Today's research into the first few decades of the 20th century suggests that doctors may also have wanted a greater market share of the maternity business and, therefore, didn't welcome competition from midwives.

Whatever the doctors' motivations, the rate of midwife-attended births dropped during and after the campaign. But the widespread criticism from the medical establishment prompted the foundation of the first certified American nurse-midwifery school in 1933. It aimed to incorporate the necessary medical training into midwifery's traditional approach to pregnancy and labor. source