English

Noun

man-midwife ‎(plural man-midwives)

1. An accoucheur.
   • 1775, Laurence Sterne, The Koran, Chapter XXXVII: The Man-Midwife, The Works of Laurence Sterne, page 75,

     She was daughter to a man-midwife; — and all that has been urged upon the former caſe, is equally referable to this one also.

   • 1835 May 30, Evidence of Mr, Guthrie before the Parliamentary Medical Committee, The Lancet for 1834-35, Volume 2, page 287,

     It is the same with the man-midwife ; he has no time to devote to surgery ; if he has time, he has no means of improving his knowledge in it.

   • 2010, Mary Lindemann, Medicine and Society in Early Modern Europe, page 268,

     Thus, the answer to the old question of whether man-midwives or midwives were the better birth attendants is not simple. Some midwives were indeed dirty, ignorant, and dangerous; some man-midwives saved lives with their forceps; and some births were doomed to disaster.

Derived terms

• man-midwifery

Coordinate terms

• accoucheuse
• (female) midwife

Translations

See also

• obstetrics
• obstetrician