the.com/midwifery
the original obstetrics — no OR, no epidural, just hands, patience, and centuries of knowing.
means the profession of assisting people through pregnancy, labor, and birth, trained to handle the normal so doctors handle the rare emergencies.
from from old english mid wif, literally with woman — the person who stands beside the mother, not above her, a job as old as childbirth itself.
older than medicinemidwives predate obstetricians by millennia.
male exclusion ironyword literally means with woman, historically a female-only trade.
lower intervention ratesmidwife-led births show fewer unnecessary c-sections.
nearly erased20th-century hospitals almost regulated midwives out of existence.