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midwifery
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Midwives assisting a birth while astrologers consult sky charts; woodcut relief print from Jakob Rueff's De conceptu et generatione hominis (1554; The Expert Midwife).
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Midwives assisting a birth while astrologers consult sky charts; woodcut relief print from Jakob Rueff's De conceptu et generatione hominis (1554; The Expert Midwife).
midwifery
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Category: Science & Tech
Key People:
Mary Breckinridge
Hugh Chamberlen, the Elder
William Smellie
Related Topics:
nursing
obstetrics and gynecology
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midwifery, care of women in pregnancy, childbirth (parturition), and the postpartum period that often also includes care of the newborn. Midwifery is as old as childbearing. Indeed, midwives historically were women who were mothers themselves and who became midwives when they attended the births of neighbours or family members. Though without formal training, some midwives had extensive knowledge of herbal remedies and performed medical services beyond attending childbirths. Midwifery was an important occupation for married, older, or widowed women that provided them with payment, in kind, or social capital in exchange for their work. The universality of childbirth makes the ...(100 of 1808 words)

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