
By Davalynn Spencer
Women have been giving birth since … well, since Eve bore Cain. And for millennia, other women have been helping with the process. We see reference to it in the biblical book of Exodus when Egypt’s king tells the Hebrew midwives to kill the male babies of the Hebrew women but let the female babies live. (The Hebrew population was exploding.)
The midwives “feared God,” we are told, and because they wouldn’t go along with the scheme, God later blessed them ( Exodus 1:15-21).
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Hebrew midwives telling Pharaoh that the Hebrew women were "lively" and delivered their babies before the midwives could arrive. Pharaoh and the Midwives, c. 1896-1902, by James Jacques Joseph Tissot |
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A pregnant woman sitting in a birthing chair, attended to by three midwives. Rueff, Jakob, ca.1500-1558, Author Publication: Zürych: Christoffel Froschover, 1554. Wikimedia Commons |
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Wall relief of childbirth and birthing chair in Treasure hall, temple of Edfu, Egypt, Remih. Wikimedia Commons. |
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Image: American pioneer birth scene Gustave Joseph Witkowski, 1887 |
But when male physicians and anesthesia became more involved in the birthing process, the chairs that offered a vertical gravitational help were replaced with conventional flat beds.
By the mid-1800s, women in bigger cities often went to lying-in hospitals where babies were delivered by physicians not well-versed in germ theory – an idea that had not yet taken hold across the board. However, midwives in homes seemed intuitively aware of the importance of washing hands and keeping things clean unlike physicians who would pass from patient to patient – and sometimes autopsies – without washing their hands before attending a birth.
Rural women still depended on the help of midwives – a calling that was not particularly easy. Midwives often dealt with miscarriages and still births. But many women preferred their help, not only for their skill, but for their comfort and nurturing, as portrayed in my upcoming novel, An Impossible Price.
Rural women still depended on the help of midwives – a calling that was not particularly easy. Midwives often dealt with miscarriages and still births. But many women preferred their help, not only for their skill, but for their comfort and nurturing, as portrayed in my upcoming novel, An Impossible Price.
British surgeon Joseph Lister had taken to heart the opinions and work of experts such as Ignaz Semmelweis, Oliver Wendell Homes Sr., and Louis Pasteur regarding germs and employed the use of carbolic acid on wounds and in surgical settings. His ideas and use of antiseptics were at first mocked, but later proved famously successful, and he was credited with infection-free surgeries on both Queen Victoria and her successor, King Edward VII.
By the 1880s, germ theory and the importance of disinfecting had transformed public health in hospitals and reduced the number of maternal deaths due to puerperal (childbed) fever which had been caused by the transmission of streptococci due to unwashed hands.
Physicians continued to compete with midwives in the birthing arena, and midwifery tapered off in the 1900s.
Today, as seems to be the natural turn of events, “the times they are a-changing.” More and more women are seeking midwives to help them during their prenatal, birth, and postnatal days. A close friend of mine gave birth at home to three of her four children, and her oldest daughter has done the same. However, in the United States, midwifery is now controlled by laws that vary from state to state.
Only a certified nurse-midwife may assist at-home births in Iowa and North Carolina. In California, midwives must be under the supervision of an on-scene doctor, and other states have varying parameters.
As of July 2017, it was illegal to work as a midwife in twenty-three of the fifty states. Those who did so could be arrested for practicing medicine without a license. However, certified nurse-midwives are allowed to practice in all fifty states.
Do you know of anyone who has experienced, assisted with, or arrived via a home birth? Comment below, and I’ll bundle your name in the bassinet for a drawing for an Advanced Reader e-Copy (ARC) of my upcoming book, An Impossible Price. A random winner will be drawn May 22.
Bestselling author and winner of the Will Rogers Gold Medallion for Inspirational Western Fiction, Davalynn Spencer can’t stop #lovingthecowboy. When she’s not writing Western romance, she teaches writing workshops and wrangles Blue the Cowdog and mouse detectors Annie and Oakley.
By the 1880s, germ theory and the importance of disinfecting had transformed public health in hospitals and reduced the number of maternal deaths due to puerperal (childbed) fever which had been caused by the transmission of streptococci due to unwashed hands.
Physicians continued to compete with midwives in the birthing arena, and midwifery tapered off in the 1900s.
Today, as seems to be the natural turn of events, “the times they are a-changing.” More and more women are seeking midwives to help them during their prenatal, birth, and postnatal days. A close friend of mine gave birth at home to three of her four children, and her oldest daughter has done the same. However, in the United States, midwifery is now controlled by laws that vary from state to state.
Only a certified nurse-midwife may assist at-home births in Iowa and North Carolina. In California, midwives must be under the supervision of an on-scene doctor, and other states have varying parameters.
As of July 2017, it was illegal to work as a midwife in twenty-three of the fifty states. Those who did so could be arrested for practicing medicine without a license. However, certified nurse-midwives are allowed to practice in all fifty states.
Do you know of anyone who has experienced, assisted with, or arrived via a home birth? Comment below, and I’ll bundle your name in the bassinet for a drawing for an Advanced Reader e-Copy (ARC) of my upcoming book, An Impossible Price. A random winner will be drawn May 22.
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Coming June 4, 2020 |
Great post! I do know many women who have chosen home birth. Some have had to go to the hospital anyways for medical intervention, but most likely not because they started the process at home. I'm glad that families have options.
ReplyDeleteI have similar associations, Connie. And yes, praise God for the choice.
DeleteYes, I know of a couple of people who have chosen home births. I have seen some on television also, as well as read a couple of stories about midwives. I'm interested in this book. I love historical fiction books, especially
ReplyDeleteof the wild west.
Susan in NC (susanlulu@yahoo.com)
Thank you for stopping by, Susan!
ReplyDeleteMy mom's exhusand,in Alabama,was born at home. My parents were born in the hospital. My brothers and I were born in the hospital. My kids were also born in the hospital.
ReplyDeleteTammy, congratulations. You are the random winner of an Advanced Reader Copy of my coming release, An Impossible Price. Please contact me with your email address.
DeleteThanks for commenting, Tammy.
ReplyDelete