i am looking for a brief article about the history of midwifery?

Question

i am trying to prepare my application for uni, 2007 midwifery and would like a brief description on the history behind midwifery, have tried every midwife, pregnancy sites i can think of and googled it as well, please help me!!

Answer 1

The rest of the article along with some others that I think may help is locate in the site to the bottom.




Midwives have been part of the human experience for as long as we know."The ancient Jews called her the wise woman, just as she is known in France as the sage-femme, and in Germany, the weise frau and also Hebamme or mother's adviser, helper, or friend. The English 'midwife' is derived from midwife, or with-woman"(J.H. Aveling). The Latin term ***-mater and the Spanish and Portuguese term comadre, have the same meaning: with woman.

The midwife is mentioned in the Book of Genesis, 35:17: "And when she (Rachel) was in her hard labor, the midwife said to her, 'Fear not, for now you will have another son.'" The book of Exodus, 1:20 states, "Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty."

In ancient times and in primitive societies, the work of the midwife had both a technical or manual aspect and a magical or mystical aspect. Hence, the midwife was sometimes revered, sometimes feared, sometimes acknowledged as a leader of the society, sometimes tortured and killed. The midwife had knowledge and skill in an area of life that was a mystery to most people. Since women had no access to formal education, it was widely assumed that the midwife's power must come from supernatural sources, such as an alliance with the devil. During the Middle Ages, a frenzy of witch-burning, promoted by both church and civic authorities, was responsible for the killing of up to several million women, many of whom were midwives and healers. In her book on Woman as Healer, Jeanne Achterberg describes the witch-hunts as "an evil that surpasses rational understanding. Here was, indeed, the worst aberration of humanity, and it trickled down the hierarchy of authority."

Today, in much of the world, professional midwives are responsible for attending women in labor and birth. In fact, in the countries with the best pregnancy outcomes, midwives are the primary providers of care to pregnant women. However, midwives are still prosecuted and persecuted for following their vocation, although not in the extreme way that characterized the Middle Ages.

Answer 2

I find googling like going to war with a bandana instead of a gun. It doesn[t work too well:).
This is your best site as it gives several artivles and information on midwifery.
I doubt there ius a serious stept by step history on midwifery as it has been around as long as there have been humans,
Midwifery predates religion, doctors, schools, education, industry, ,military origanizations such as armies, governments, and even goes back to when the time when humans shared a small family unit of two. Midwifery was not prevelent in many places such as africa and the american indians. Many indian women in America would have to bare the burden of childbirth alone, as well as did ,many women in Africa. Some still do today this a culture effect.
This site give you some good information such as this;
Historical perspective
Historically, midwifery has been one of the few medical practices dominated by female practitioners. From Agnodice in ancient Greece to the 18th century in Europe, the care of mothers and delivery of infants has been regarded, both by patients and by the medical profession, as appropriately carried out by women. In the 18th century, a division between surgeons and midwives arose, as medical men began to assert that their modern scientific processes were better for mothers and infants than the folk-medical midwives. Whether this was a valid claim, or not, can be seen in the entry for Justine Siegemund, a renowned seventeenth century German midwife, whose Court Midwife (1690)was the first female-authored German medical text.

At the outset of the 18th century in England, most babies were caught by a midwife, but by the onset of the 19th century, the majority of those babies born to persons of means had a surgeon involved. A number of excellent full length studies of this historical shift have been written.

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Midwifery in the United States
There are two main divisions of modern midwifery in the US: nurse-midwives and direct-entry midwives.

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Nurse midwives
In the United States, nurse-midwives are advanced practice nurses who have specialized in the practice of obstetrical and gynecological care of relatively healthy women. In addition to a registered nursing license, many nurse-midwives have a master's degree in nursing. Nurse-midwives practice in hospitals and medical clinics, and may also deliver in birth centers and at home. They are able to prescribe medications in 48 out of the 50 states. Nurse-midwives provide care to women from puberty through menopause. Nurse-midwives may work closely with obstetricians, who provide consultation and assistance to patients who develop complications. Often, women with high risk pregnancies can receive the benefits of midwifery care from a nurse-midwife in collaboration with a physician. Currently 2% of nurse-midwives are men. The American College of Nurse-Midwives accredits nurse-midwifery education programs and serves as the national specialty society for the nation's certified nurse-midwives. At present approximately 5500 Certified Nurse-Midwives are practicing in the U.S.

Answer 3

Try getting into the Nursing Times web site. Just type in Nursing Times. If not try phoning them, they will be able to tell you where to get your info.

Answer 4

I was a student at USM and I work at USM. One of the sociology professors has research interests in that area. Here is a link to her website, which has information about midwifery:

http://www.usm.edu/antsoc/socio/Miller/ALC.html

Answer 5

i change right into a columnist about new age and occult mag earlier ...the following in philippines. ...and also a practitioner. do you desire me to share the community practices the following? i wont ask for any price... merely supply me a replica of your mag. merely mail me.

Answer 6

http://www.fhs.mcmaster.ca/midwifery/
http://www.fhs.mcmaster.ca/midwifery/

Answer 7

I could never attract a man with my face

Answer 8

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