Book contents
- Frontmatter
- CONTENTS
- Acknowledgements
- Preface
- Introduction: Authority, Expertise and German Midwifery's Contribution to Debates of Nature versus Science
- 1 Expertise, Authority and the Written Record: An Overview of Midwives' Evolving Role in the Public Sphere
- 2 From Storchtanten to Gebildete Frauen: The Roots of Modern Professionalization
- 3 Birthing under the Swastika: Indoctrinating Midwives into the Nazi Pro-Natalist State
- 4 Strong Hands and Steady Demeanour: Identifying the Characteristics of an Ideal Midwifery Student
- 5 Babies, Bottles and Bureaucracy: Course Curriculum, World Views and Essential Knowledge for a Midwife
- 6 The Art and Science of Childbirth: Constructing Midwifery and Obstetrical Textbooks
- Conclusion: Modern Professional Midwifery
- Notes
- Works Cited
- Index
1 - Expertise, Authority and the Written Record: An Overview of Midwives' Evolving Role in the Public Sphere
- Frontmatter
- CONTENTS
- Acknowledgements
- Preface
- Introduction: Authority, Expertise and German Midwifery's Contribution to Debates of Nature versus Science
- 1 Expertise, Authority and the Written Record: An Overview of Midwives' Evolving Role in the Public Sphere
- 2 From Storchtanten to Gebildete Frauen: The Roots of Modern Professionalization
- 3 Birthing under the Swastika: Indoctrinating Midwives into the Nazi Pro-Natalist State
- 4 Strong Hands and Steady Demeanour: Identifying the Characteristics of an Ideal Midwifery Student
- 5 Babies, Bottles and Bureaucracy: Course Curriculum, World Views and Essential Knowledge for a Midwife
- 6 The Art and Science of Childbirth: Constructing Midwifery and Obstetrical Textbooks
- Conclusion: Modern Professional Midwifery
- Notes
- Works Cited
- Index
Summary
The art of midwifery must be one of the oldest acquired skills. As soon as the prehistoric family expanded into a primitive tribe, so must the more experienced matrons have taken steps to comfort and assist their younger relatives in the travail of childbirth. It would not be long before the experience thus gained became a mystery to others, hedged in by superstition and taboos, so that those who had acquired some skill became the first prehistoric midwives. The French term sage-femme carries on this conception of the primitive position of the midwife in society.
W. Radcliff, Milestones in Midwifery (1967)Midwifery is a science but it's also an art. And what's been happening over the years is that the art is getting lost and the science is coming to the forefront.
C. M. Benoit, Midwives in Passage (1981)The practice of midwifery in German-speaking states has a rich and multifaceted history over multiple centuries that goes well beyond expected paradigms of female/private versus male/public. Midwives in these regions have not only functioned at the heart of a private women-centred community, rife with custom and shrouded in mystery (at least to the men who remained exempt from the experience), they have also shared a long relationship with governing officials, often serving as both barometers and enforcers of public rules and regulations. This role as intermediary between labouring woman and social authority is indicated by their very name, Hebammen, which stems from the Old High German word Heve-amme. While some associate the word with amme (wet-nurse), in this context amme actually means ‘mother’ or ‘grandmother’, and heven is a derivation of the verb heben meaning ‘to lift’. The term itself dates back to around the eighth century when midwives were given the honour and responsibility of placing a newborn on its father's shield and presenting both to the father; if the father removed the child from the shield, the infant was then accepted into the community.
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- Modern German Midwifery, 1885–1960 , pp. 17 - 32Publisher: Pickering & ChattoFirst published in: 2014