|
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692
Pooh-Bah
|
OP
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692 |
We happened to see a TV programme called "William and Mary" the other evening. Mary is a midwife, and after the thing had finished my best-beloved reached for the dictionary and then finally today I looked it up in the AHD for a bit more info' which I thought I'd share:
ETYMOLOGY: Middle English midwif : probably mid, with (from Old English; see me-2 in Appendix I) + wif, woman (from Old English wf). WORD HISTORY: The word midwife is the sort of word whose etymology seems perfectly clear until one tries to figure it out. Wife would seem to refer to the woman giving birth, who is usually a wife, but mid ? A knowledge of older senses of words helps us with this puzzle. Wife in its earlier history meant “woman,” as it still did when the compound midwife was formed in Middle English (first recorded around 1300). Mid is probably a preposition, meaning “together with.” Thus a midwife was literally a “with woman” or “a woman who assists other women in childbirth.” Even though obstetrics has been rather resistant to midwifery until fairly recently, the etymology of obstetric is rather similar, going back to the Latin word obstetrx, “a midwife,” from the verb obstre, “to stand in front of,” and the feminine suffix –trx; the obstetrx would thus literally stand in front of the baby.
Ed: Sorry, I guess I should have put this below the line in "Words from Medicine".
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
I'm not usually one to argue with the AHD on matters of etymology but, while I've always been with them on the mid part I thought the wife part refered to the one giving birth. That the midwife would be a woman was probably the more common alternative just because a woman would have the personal experience, it was not necessary and a man could be a midwife.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,379
Pooh-Bah
|
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,379 |
Midwife --> Obstetrics
I wonder if this substitution doesn't reflect a change in the position of the mother during birth from squatting to lying prostrate, as well as the associated change in the gender of her assistant. Midwives are certainly almost always women, while obstetricians have traditionally been men. Here, the personal experience may be a factor since (as I am told), squatting is easier for the mother and lying is easier for her assistant.
Even though obstetrics has been rather resistant to midwifery until fairly recently..
Obstetrics has largely remained resistant to midwifery, but it has been the insurance industry that has lately brought it again near extinction.
..it was not necessary and a man could be a midwife.
I have been charmed by the presence of many midwives coming through my life, in recent years. In Chicago, one group of them reports having had one man in their class. Although licensed along with the women, however, he was unable to get a single client.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
The human race survived millions of years without any assistance of women during childbirth. But babies are precious, so when complications arise, special knowledge is vital. I have the impression that the midwives never had groups to teach beginners how to handle complications.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210 |
assistance of women during childbirth
what are the birthing habits of other creatures? I know of animals that seek to be solitary, but are there others that give birth more commmunally?
formerly known as etaoin...
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Dear etaoin: you remind me of my daughters' cats. When the second one was undergoing parturition, she just looked bewildered. The other cat who had had her kittens a week before jumped into her box and started taking care of the umbilical cords.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
Animals in which I would expect to see this sort of behavior in the wild:
Wolves
Chimpanzees (possibly also gorillas)
Elephants
Dolphins and whales
Maybe (I say maybe) some of the herding herbivores such as horses and cattle. (but not quite sure how they'd manage it)
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210 |
you remind me of my daughters' catsI do? must be the whiskers... started taking careseriously, that's the kind of thing I was wondering about. so perhaps humans have helped each other along as well?
formerly known as etaoin...
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Dear etaoin: Care of the umbilical cord would be one big thing the mother might need help with. After all the pulsations have ceased, and often before the placenta has been passed, it has have a ligature tied around it in two place, tightly enough to prevent hemorrhage, a few inches from the umbilicus, and then cut between the ligatures.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 619
addict
|
addict
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 619 |
Although licensed along with the women, however, he was unable to get a single client.
I can sympathize with his plight inselpeter. No-one ever gave a gnat a helping hand*.
In fact:
No-one greets a gnat with a grin Or applauds his aerial trim Little wonder, I say He goes out of his way To get right under your skin.
*Any hand he ever got, he had to take for himself.
|
|
|
Forums16
Topics13,913
Posts229,397
Members9,182
|
Most Online3,341 Dec 9th, 2011
|
|
0 members (),
579
guests, and
1
robot. |
Key:
Admin,
Global Mod,
Mod
|
|
|
|