By Faith Gibson
California Licensed Midwife 041
Series beginning March 08, 2025
Part 1: The Obstetricalized Normal Childbirth in Healthy Women
and Elimination of Midwives as Provider of Maternity Care
~ 1820 to early 1900s
Read from beginning 9:52 am Mar 20, 2025
History of the Word: Midwifery
The word “midwifery” comes from 16th century Middle English. It simply meant “with-woman” in relation to childbearing. In the narrowest sense, any woman who stays with and helps another woman during the childbearing process is providing midwifery care as a verb (just not as a noun or formal title).
The term “man-midwife” historically referred to male doctors who regularly attended “case of childbirth”.
Formally, midwifery is defined as: “skilled, knowledgeable and compassionate care for childbearing women, newborn infants and families across the continuum from pregnancy, birth, postpartum and the early weeks of life.”
Chapter One
According to research by paleontologists, the modern birth canal in Homo sapiens evolved 200,000 years ago. Since that time, our homo-sapiens species has apparently been actively managing childbirth as an aspect of gender-based care. Older and more experienced women who had experienced giving birth themselves assisted younger women who were giving birth for the first time. It is highly likely that women with childbirth experience also provided a helpful social and practical presence to women having additional babies.
Only one group of our ancient ancestors was identified as managing childbirth by sending the laboring girl or women out into the surrounding wilderness to give birth alone or die trying.
It is highly likely that their branch of the homo-sapiens was unable to propagate in sufficient numbers to make it into the modern gene pool. I think it is a good thing that our species is compassionate rather than cannibalistic
