To work as a midwife, you need a qualifying degree.
A midwife is known as a person who has official authorization to provide assistance to women during pregnancy and at the time of childbirth . The term comes from comadre .
Degree required
The concept often gives rise to confusion. It is important to mention that the Royal Spanish Academy ( RAE ), in its dictionary, specifies that the midwife has a qualifying title to carry out her work. In this way, she differs from the midwife who, always according to the definition of the RAE , collaborates with the parturient but lacks specific studies.
In some regions, a midwife is an obstetrician : an expert in obstetrics (the health science focused on the process of pregnancy, labor, and the postpartum period). However, it is not medical . A medical professional who specializes in obstetrics is known as an obstetrician-physician or obstetrician-gynecologist .
Therefore, at a general level it can be said that a midwife has studies linked to her specialty, but did not study medicine . This means that they tend to be involved in monitoring low-risk pregnancies and working together with an obstetrician.
Essential assistance
Midwives provide information to pregnant women and offer support. They must be attentive to the woman 's needs, also suggesting exercises, postures, etc. so that you can go through pregnancy and childbirth fully. Without a medical degree, the midwife cannot provide medications or perform diagnostic tests, for example.
The midwife, in short, accompanies a pregnancy without complications , intervening as little as possible. If you have any problems, you should refer the pregnant woman to a doctor to take care of her.
Midwives in the Animal Kingdom
As with many other attitudes and behaviors that we believe are exclusive to our species , the existence of a female assisting another throughout childbirth can also be seen in others. According to research from 2018, bonobos , also known as pygmy chimpanzees , have been doing this long before us, just as birds have been singing and chirping since before sopranos existed and aquatic animals have been doing this for millions of years. years exhibiting his agility without Olympic uniforms.
The work thanks to which we add this fascinating fact to so many others that help us respect animals more every day was carried out by a group of experts belonging to the universities of Lyon and Pisa , in France and Italy respectively. According to their reports, midwives of this species carry out various actions, such as the following: they lick the parturient; They repel insects that may bother you during childbirth ; they hold babies as soon as they are born; They keep the males at a certain distance so that they do not cause problems.
Female Bonobos Can Play the Role of Midwives
It should be noted that experts do not believe that these and other actions of the midwife are essential for childbirth, but rather that they seem to be carried out with the mere intention of supporting the female on an emotional level. In fact, it is known for certain that bonobos can give birth perfectly on their own, like any other animal.
The research focused on the study of three communities of pygmy chimpanzees over five years, between 2009 and 2014, in centers located in Holland and France. Bonobos have a matriarchal organization , meaning that the females have dominance , a trait that differentiates them from the rest of the chimpanzees. The role of the midwife in nature is further proof that we have a strong bond with the rest of the species on this planet, even if we try hard to hide it behind clothes and asphalt.