The Unexpected History Of Midwives
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- Опубліковано 6 лют 2025
- While no two births are quite the same, everyone enters the world the same basic way - someone cries, someone else yells, and a third person tries to remember where the towels are.
Amid this flurry of chaos, there exists an age-old profession - midwifery. You’d think helping parents bring their children into this world would be considered a noble pursuit. But being a midwife has never been simple. They were lauded as heroes in one century, persecuted as witches in the next, and are still given the occasional side-eye today.
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#midwifery #birth #weirdhistory
My great grandma was a midwife. She was a midwife in the early 1900's. She kept journals on every baby she delivered. She also had several remedies she would make for children who were sick at the time. Same for adults. There were no doctors in the area she lived in.
Reading those journals opened stories about how complex some of the births were. My great grandma was born premature only weighing 2 lbs. The family wrapped her up and put her in a shoe box next to the stove. She lived to over 90 years old. She is a hero to me. That is why I went into medicine as aan RN
Please publish her journals.
@@rebeccahoneycutt6558 That is a good idea. I just may do that.
that’s so inspiring
My wife is a midwife/womens health provider. She has some amazing stories, but some tragic ones too... Youngest person to receive certification from her college. ❤️ so proud of her
How does she pronounce "midwifery?" Mid-wiff-ery or like the narrator with a long i?
Good on her! One of my nieces is a midwife in Vermont. She was an L&D RN for years while studying for her advanced practice/MSN degree. It made this old MBC RN proud!
My wife is a nurse practioner. She worked labor and delivery and also nicu before finishing her degree.
Midwives had lower infant mortality rates than doctors cuz they made washing their hands a priority. Also, they encouraged women to walk around and sit upright so gravity could ease the baby down the birth canal.
I had my son in 2010 with a midwife and loved the whole experience. I was a single new mother freaking out I am now responsible for raising a whole person. I recommend midwifery to anyone unsure about what is right for them. I have an amazing friend who is now a registered doula which is kinda like a nurse is to a doc. These ppl have a special energy to them that is unexplainable
Not a word about the fact that midwives washing their hands was a major factor in surgeons begining to use sterile practices.
By my understanding, it was not that the midwives were washing their hands (I don't believe they were) - it was that the doctors were touching dead bodies. The doctors, with gross corpse hands, passed on deadly microbes to the mothers and babies. The nurses did not go near autopsies, so they had no contact with those particularly nasty germs and therefore were only spreading normal, non-corpse germs. It wasn't so much what the midwives were doing, but what they were NOT doing that aided the important discovery by Ignaz Semmelweis.
@@pseudonym21everything I read stated the opposite that the women were washing their hands
No, they were not really washing their hands, but were not performing autiopsies and anatomy practice, so they did not spread as many germs. Ignaz Semmelweis was the one who found out about washing hands.
Call the Midwife, great show depicting the struggles
My mom's favorite show. It is one of the most well-made shows I've seen.
“Call the Midwife” UK TV series is one of my favorite shows. It’s in season 14 now and still going strong 🥰
They don't get enough credit.
My grandma was a midwife. This is a good video on the general history of them.
I believe the movie is called "Out of the Ashes" and it's about a Jewish gynecologist trapped in (I believe) Auschwitz and forced to work under Dr Mengele. She eventually gained her freedom only to be reviewed, interviewed, judged for what she did in the camps. Very good movie and people should check it out.
I've seen that. She did what she had to to save lives. Until you're in a situation like that, how can we judge her? Anybody would probably do the same.
Even now midwives are highly experienced and knowledgeable, far more so in some areas than the doctors. They still get paid really badly in the UK!😢
I find that very hard to believe that a midwife is more knowledgeable than an ob/gyn.
@samuelpratt642 it's different knowledge tbh. The midwives will have witnessed hundreds of births, just in their training alone. Normal, weird, horrible, the whole range. Drs in the UK tend to only be involved when issues arise.They see the problematic pregnancies and births. Their training is more focussed on a problem and solving it. The midwives become the experts in birth processes, warning signs, just "knowing" it's not right, patient relationship with them etc. Ideally obviously. Midwives I had were far better at in depth knowledge than the Doctors (who were great in a crisis when it all went wrong). And it's a stupid Dr that doesn't talk to their colleagues and vice versa.
@@beebeelicious I find your clarification to be much more agreeable. However, be careful to not make a judgement on a group of people based on a small sample size of interactions. That’s how we get things like racism, sexism, and ageism.
@samuelpratt642 I'm just speaking from a personal and professional experience point of view. Midwives are as mixed as Doctors.
2020 was the Year of the Nurse and the Midwife.
My former wife was attended to by a pair of midwives during her pregnancy. Those ladies were phenomenal. I don't remember what we were paying them, but I can assure you, it wasn't enough, but what we could afford at the time. The only time I ever saw the doc, was when he came in long enough to deliver my daughter, which took all of about 20 minutes, and was gone. Never saw him again. This was 41 years ago, in the US.
I birthed both of my boys with a midwife in the early 2000’s at a birth center. Wonderful experience both times, no complications. Little bit of good luck, good genetics & good midwifery!
"Sounds a book in Dr. Strange's bathroom"😂😂😂😂😂
I loved that I got to give birth in Denmark. As a child in the US, my only exposure to childbirth was through TV and movies. The image of a woman, on her back, legs in stirrups, in a sterile, cold, brightly lit room with a man (doctor) yelling at her to push, was enough to put me off the idea of ever having children.
But in my 20’s, I came across a book on water birth and midwives. That’s the first time I ever considered the idea of possibly having children.
Back to giving birth in Denmark- here, you automatically have a midwife unless there’s a medical reason otherwise! I was actually encouraged to give birth at home, but decided against it as I lived in an apartment so wasn’t sure about the noise and such. So I gave birth in the birthing centre at the hospital which was perfect! I had several midwives throughout my labour (I was in labour for over 100 hours), and the whole experience was very empowering. I had complete control and say over every step of my labouring and birth.
My aunt gave birth a couple of times in Denmark and her first time was a horror story. They made her wait till the last minute in the waiting room because other people had more pressing emergencies supposedly. It was very horrible and painful for her. She married a Danish man and has lived there for 40 years. I’m glad you had a good experience, though.
So did I. In a nice room in a hospital where I knew that neither I nor my baby were likely to die. Save your rebuttal…..my daughter had 2 friends whose babies died when, AMA, they stayed home with a midwife
I tip my hat to you, momma! You’re only the second person I’ve ever heard of to go through a longer labor than myself! 74 hours with my first!
The French word is sage-femme, wise woman. A word derived from Greek was adopted that can be used Masc and Fem maïeuticien/maïeuticienne
Midwives today are almost always advanced practice RNs. To say that they are given the side eye today is ludicrous.
Also, midwives, L&D nurses, NICU, and Nursery nurses are still allowed in most circumstances to baptize a newborn if the parents request it and there are no ministers or priests available.
Remember, there are home birth midwives as well that are trained by apprenticeship.
@deltawaters7308 Yes. A fair number of those probably have Advanced Practice certificates or degrees as well, depending on their state or country where they practice.
Unfortunately he is actually right. I’ve met several women who only want a doctor to deliver their baby bc they think it’s better.
@candaceforeman640 That's truly a shame.
@@maryellencook9528 girl ik! And some of these comments prove that point unfortunately too
Do Americans pronounce “midwifery” that way? In Britain we still pronounce it according to the Old English origin of the word.
I was thinking this the whole way through. I'm American & I do not pronounce it as he did. I also Googled the word & Google pronounced it as he did. Wow. I pronounce it as "mid-whiff-ery". That's how I've always heard it said. Maybe it's because I'm from the south. 😅
@@NCSunshine1980, I pronounce it the same and so does everyone I know including midwives lol
Glad it wasn't just me thinking it!
I’m American and was looking for a comment about his weird pronunciation. I think they just assumed it and didn’t look it up.
@@NCSunshine1980 I looked it up and apparently it is pronounced differently in America vs. Britain. But I've always heard it pronounced "mid-whiff-ery." Most likely I've heard it that way on television shows and movies.
It's always always good day whenever Weird History uploads
"No matter the time period, Men love gadgets." Ha! Good one!
Aside, this reminds me of sheela na gigs, that I first heard about in a medieval history of Europe course.
The professor showed some (quite stunning, *ahem*) pictures illustrating how they started out essentially as a tribute to to the feminine, likely holdovers from pagan times, and one can see how though out the years they went from even opening arches/doorways almost celebrating women and their supposed divine connection to life and as life givers from early Christian churches ...to eventually being relegated to basements, becoming more grotesque and taking on a more demeaning, meaning.
Historical texts follow this shift in perceptions of women, culminating of course in the Malleus Maleficarum, or the Witch's Hammer, which unfortunately, still lingers with us to this day to varying degrees.
Anyone read Spiritual Midwifery! Great book 📕
My second child is named after a baby from one of the birth stories in that book! I was lucky to have a water birth with her as well. All of my subsequent four babies were all natural births after reading that and Ina May’s other most famous book, “Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth.” My first I was forced into an epidural 71 hours into labor, after having gone through Lamaze in preparation for her birth, which I found to be entirely useless, thus sent me looking for more information and found that angel Ina May Gaskin and her books. Those two books, in my opinion, are the ONLY two books women need to read in preparation for their first birth!
Dudes name was "Soranus"....? how have I never heard of this man?
This narrator is like the son of the original one. Same jokes, same delivery, less (but ok) excitement. Great cast! 😂 ❤
I live amongst the Amish in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania... and midwives are all that they use.
They don't carry insurance so it's cheaper
A midwife helped my mom who birthed me and my sister in the same apartment for the fear of possible baby-switching in the hospital.
In the UK we have midwives from the time we register as pregnant. I've had 4 different deliveries, two led by doctors, the others just with midwives, including a home delivery. Midwives are the best.
During the start of midwifery as a more scientific subject, most "official" midwives were males.
I’m my own midwife. Delivered 2 babies on my own at home 😁
I had a mid-wife through out my pregnancy with my eldest and she was great. She was even there when my daughter was born but there still had to be a Dr. there too for whatever reason I forget.
It’s in case something goes wrong that is outside the scope of the midwife’s training and licensing ability. It’s a safety precaution that you would be happy about should something sadly go wrong and it’s the baby’s and/or your life on the line.
@@SweetTea-Stephens Oh right. I thought it was something of that realm thanks!
Midwives, like physician's assistants and other nurse practitioners are required legally to practice under an M.D. I see lots of claims needing to be rebilled under the supervising M.D. in order to be paid.
I had a midwife for my second baby. Out of three births, I think it was more personal. My choice is midwife, but to be fair, my third was with drugs during labor and that was a whole new experience. 😅
I believe the belief is that unbaptised babies go to Limbo, not Purgatory.
“Mid-husband” was a missed opportunity for the English language! 😂
The great narrative is back with great stories from the creators ❤❤❤❤
Anyone else do a double take thinking this was "The Infographics Show" narrator?
I don't mind this narrator but he is very to the point.
Interesting topic!
Random new voice 🧐 good job though
His pronounciation of difficult names was quite impressive!
Out of context, that statue @2:49 REALLY looks like something UA-cam would demonetise you for.😆
As a boyfriend of 5 years to a woman in school to be a midwife, I can definitely say that he is mispronouncing midwifery consistently.
Thanks for this! 🚼
Would love to hear about the history of funeral service!
I am a 25 year practicing homebirth and birth center Midwife. This is a great video, but you’ve completely forgotten to include the major major influence that black and granny midwives had on American midwifery. Modern midwifery is the way it is now because of those midwives so basically you’ve missed a third of our recent history.
Love these videos
It’s interesting how rural communities have always leaned on midwives despite medical advancements.
Huh, am I the first commenter...?
2
Naw I am @@timjohnson2186
I love midwives and this channel ❤ my only critique is that you guys didn’t go into depth about how midwifery shaped modern medicine because the traditional way was better in a lot of ways like hand washing, using clean linens, allowing the mothers to eat and move around during labor and allowing babies to restitute instead of forcep head crushing deliveries
My father was born at home in 1925 with the help of a midwife, she signed the birth certificate paperwork. 🙂
Both of my babies were delivered by midwives ❤
Antagonism to midwifery (through the ages) has almost always come from men
Finally, no crappy and misguiding CGI. Keep this up and I might do likewise.
I had an amazing midwife to deliver my son!! She was absolutely awesome!!
In one of the Gnostic gospels Mary's midwife has her hand burned off when she doubts God and tries to examine Mary.
You gonna make an entire video and NOT DOUBLE CHECK HOW TO ACTUALLY PRONOUNCE MIDWIFERY? What lazy nonsense this shit is so aggravating throughout this effing video
My mom was born by a midwife. Her older sisters too. My youngest aunt was the first to be born in the hospital back in 1940. Some women like a water birth and have the baby at home. In today's world you have choices. Which is do nice.
I'd rather be at a hospital to give birth than have a midwife who can't help if something goes wrong with baby and mother.
This
The midwife can help up to a certain degree. Most births do not require extra medical intervention. If you’re high risk then most birthing centers won’t even accept you unless they are near a hospital to transfer you. Also, midwives are good for after the birth when you’re tired and you need help filling out paperwork and things. Doulas and midwives are awesome and for centuries have handled tough labors.
Also most hospitals employ midwives who are advanced nurses so most of the time you don’t even really see the doctor.
Since low birthrates are becoming a norm, it's safe to assume that we are indeed in a midwife crisis.
Eating ANOTHER Weird History candy!
Eating Wiley Wallaby licorice (Watermelon)*†...while watching this Weird History video!
I bought this at Tractor Supply Store.
* Inspired by the Weird History videos about candy.
† Rocko, from Rocko's Modern Life, is a Wallaby.
even midwives have their reputation era
Midwife delivered both my kids. Last one was a home birth. And it's said mid...wif...ery, not wife.
Could you please do a video about alchemy.
Is this a bot voice? I've been a midwife since the mid-90s and haven't heard the word midwifery mispronounced so much. It's making my ears hurt.
If you're going to do a documentary based on MIDWIFERY it would be a good ideal to learn how
the word is properly pronounced.
The "i" is soft.
I think it is an issue where the explanation got "Lost In The Pond".
Save the babies! Be pro-life! Show compassion and embrace expectant mothers (both women and girls) in crisis pregnancies! Be a helping hand that gives life, not one that takes it away!
Or maybe don’t tell women what to do with their bodies 😬 yuck .
I agree, I bet voluntary pregnancy terminatios would go drastically down if there were more social programs (that actually worked and were monitored properly) to help pregnant women and mothers. But Im only a woman that lives in the middle of American civilization so what do I know 😂
@d159inu If there were more pregnancy centers that provided exemplary after-care for the mother specifically, I bet you the rates would go down. We focus so much on the babies because their lives too are sacred, that moms in these hard situations often go overlooked.
The mispronunciation of the word midwifery all the way through this video is enough to set your teeth on edge. Clearly the speaker has never actually heard the word, just read it.
Yeah, it doesn't take long to check out some of that stuff. These you tubers are producing so much material these days, that I don't think it's a priority for them, due to time constraints.
It’s not pronounced ‘wrong’, just different from you
Mid-whiff-ery is the British pronounciation, while mid-wife-ery is the American pronounciation. The narrator is clearly from the States. The tomato, tomato idea.
We are American you guys have a different accent. Get over it
@ we also don’t say ‘al you min I um’ or ‘wah-tuh’
Im never this early.
No sound?? My volume is up.
Okay now can you actually do a history of mimes ???
Completely off topic but what are yall talking about “new voice”? This is the same narrator?????
Come on @weirdhistory where is the O.G narrator?
With these images I wouldve thought it was created by Europeans
My mom was delivered by a midwife, according to her birth certificate.
DIFFERENT VOICE
The pronunciation was off but good video
He's back! Is that the OG narrator again?!
It's one of the new ones that the bottom feeders whine about.
@misterhat5823 out of all the new ones he's the best, imo 🤷♂️
who writes these scripts? 😂
Midwifery is pronounced with a short i sounds. So, mid WIFF ery, not mid WIFE ery.
Ima midwolf
Thank you for not saying midwiffery
Nothing personal but this new narrator simply does not have a fraction of the same enthusiasm as the original narrator. I think I can do better, let me take a crack at it.
Yeah... My first wife was pretty mid.
The bots don't know to give this one the 50 likes
This silly hippidity dipity lady I work with was fully committed to doing this herself. Thought the midwife was her BFF. Comes time to give birth at her house and there were complications. The midwife ran and the husband had to call 911. Ambulance picked her up and she needed an emergency C section. The baby and her were both at risk of dying. Losing a single child or even Mom to this sorta nonsense is silly to me. A hospital is a great thing people.
Obviously wasn’t a real midwife then was she?
@ You’re an idiot.
I just can’t with this narrators voice.
Q: Why are babies born with a "soft spot" on the top of the head?
A: So the OB nurses can carry them five at a time to the nursery.
Wrong narrator voice...
No it's not... there's more than one.
It's a race to the bottom. Of the comments that is. Hola bottom feeders!
So now we see if the people are done complaining about the narrator in 2025.
How about history of abortionist baby killers? That would be cool, since narcisist left and lesbians love abortion
Shame on you for spreading lies and hate
Leave the left alone.
So how many drug addicted, special needs babies have you taken in and been financially responsible for? How many foster children are you adopting? Unless you care about( and help pay for)all the kids that are currently here and desperately need help, you aren't "pro-life". You are just another pro-forced birth a-hole. But you keep being mad about it. It's adorable when you name call.
Wrong narrator
No it's not.. there's more than one.
@meganmeixell5070 there's only one that is any good at the voice over narration and this guy ain't that guy
@@JonathanHall-h8r Bottom comment for good reason.
@@JonathanHall-h8r So stop your whining and move on. The narrator trope is getting old.