A history of the profession and education of the midwives

This work deals with the process of mapping the history of the profession and education of midwives, focusing on the Czech lands. The first mention of the existence of midwives dates back to the 2nd millennium BC (ancient Egypt, ancient Greece). Already at this time there was a detailed knowledge about pregnancy, childbirth and the complications that could occur. The aim of this work is to find out as much information and knowledge as possible about the way and system of education of midwives from the beginnings (given the available sources this is the period from the Late Middle Ages to the Early Modern times) to the present. The introductory chapters first describe the times where there was no comprehensive education system for midwives, so the teaching took place in such a way that a young girl served an apprenticeship with an experienced midwife, who passed all her knowledge and experiences on to her. Only since the end of the 18th century a compulsory training and qualification testing for midwives were introduced. In these days, future midwives prepare for the profession at universities by studying the bachelor's program in Midwifery, that lasts 3 years. The next chapters of the thesis discuss the general conditions that any midwife had to meet in order to do this profession (including the..