Nativity scenes typically depict Mary and Joseph, baby Jesus, the three magi, an angel, and perhaps a shepherd boy and his flock. Missing is the midwife who almost certainly would have delivered the child (and could have attested to Mary’s virginity). Midwives play a prominent role in Jewish scripture and have been around for thousands of years. The mother of Socrates was a midwife, midwives appear in Roman frescoes, midwives assisted at royal births in Europe, and African slaves brought their midwifery skills to America. Until the 1920s, 70% of births occurred at home attended by midwives. Although most deliveries later took place in hospitals, midwives are gaining in popularity today, with 12,000 in the U.S. and 27 million worldwide. Read more about midwifery 100 years ago in Tazia and Gemma (see NOVELS).
