0% found this document useful (0 votes)

174 views70 pages

History of Midwifery in the Philippines

The document discusses the history of midwifery around the world and in the Philippines. It covers ancient practices dating back thousands of years, as well as more modern developments over the 18th-21st centuries. Key topics include the roles of midwives in ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome, the medicalization of childbirth starting in the 18th century, and current midwifery practices in various countries.

Uploaded by

AYOB, Baiwata B.

We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.

Available Formats

Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

0% found this document useful (0 votes)

174 views70 pages

History of Midwifery in the Philippines

Uploaded by

AYOB, Baiwata B.

We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.

Available Formats

Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MINDANAO

M 103
PROFESSIONAL GROWTH AND
DEVELOPMENT
Topic Outline
A. History of Midwifery
1. World
2. Philippines
B. Professional Organization of Midwives
C. Professional Regulation Commission-Regulatory Board of
Midwifery
D. Definition of Terms

M103 PGD WEEK 1 2

Intended Learning Outcomes
At the end of the course, the student:
1. Identifies terminologies relevant to the topic.

2. Recognized the importance of moral, ethical and legal

principles in the practice of midwifery.

3. Applies the different moral, ethical and legal principles.

3 1
M103 PGD WEEK
A. History of Midwifery
1. WORLD
ANCIENT HISTORY

Midwifery-recognized female occupation based on Ebbers

Papyrus

Ebbers Papyrus-an Egyptian medical papyrus of herbal

knowledge dating to circa in 1550 B.C.

M103 PGD WEEK 1 4

A. History of Midwifery
5 Topics of Papyrus
1. Obstetrics
2. Gynecology
3. Process of giving birth
4. Birth prognosis
5. Newborn care

M103 PGD WEEK 1 5

A. History of Midwifery
1770 BCE- Westcor papyrus (by Towler, 1986)
Topics
1. Instruction for calculating the expected date of
confinement (EDC)
2. Describes different styles of birth chairs
3. Heavy presence of midwife in royal births rooms in Luxor
and other temples

M103 PGD WEEK 1 6

A. History of Midwifery
Grec0-Roman
Old women who continued folk medical traditions in the
villages of Roman Empire, were trained midwives who
garnered their knowledge from a variety of sources, and
highly trained women who were considered physicians
(Fleming, 2000)

M103 PGD WEEK 1 7

A. History of Midwifery
Soranus of Ephesus in 2nd Century

A good midwife is a suitable person will be literate with her

wits about her, possessed of good memory, loving work,
respectable and generally not unduly handicapped as
regards her senses, sound of limb, robust and according to
some people endowed with long slim fingers and short nails
at her fingertips.

M103 PGD WEEK 1 8

A. History of Midwifery
Soranus also recommends that midwife be of symphatic
disposition (although she need not have borne a child
herself) and that she keeps her hand soft for the comfort of
both mother and child (French, 1986)

M103 PGD WEEK 1 9

A. History of Midwifery
According to Pliny (by Jackson, 1988) the three grades of
Midwifes at Present
1. Technically proficient
2. May have read some of the texts on Obstetrics and
Gynecology
3. Highly trained and reasonably considered a medical
specialists with a concentration in midwifery

M103 PGD WEEK 1 10

A. History of Midwifery
Different Titles of Midwives
1. iatrine (nurse)
2. maia (midwife)
3. obstetrix (obstetrician)
4. medica (doctor)

M103 PGD WEEK 1 11

A. History of Midwifery
Roman West-Two Hypothesis (Flemming, 2000)
1. Midwifery was not a profession to which freeborn women
of families that had enjoyed free status of several
generations were attracted therefore it seems that most
midwifes were of servile origin.

M103 PGD WEEK 1 12

A. History of Midwifery
Roman West-Two Hypothesis (Flemming, 2000)
2. Midwives were generally valued enough, and earned
enough income, to be able to gain their freedom

M103 PGD WEEK 1 13

A. History of Midwifery
MODERN HISTORY
 Conflicts between the surgeons and midwives began in
18th Century
 Medical men began to assert that their modern scientific
techniques were better for mothers and infants than the folk
medicine practiced by midwives (Borst, 1996)

M103 PGD WEEK 1 14

A. History of Midwifery
As doctors and medical associations pushed for legal
monopoly on obstetrical care, midwifery became outlawed
or heavily regulated throughout United States and Canada
(Ehrenreich, 2005)

M103 PGD WEEK 1 15

A. History of Midwifery
Northern Europe and Russia, Professor Christian Friedrich
(Deutsch) established a midwifery school for women at the
University of Dorpat in 1811, which existed until World War
I.

M103 PGD WEEK 1 16

A. History of Midwifery
It was the predecessor for the Tartu Health Care College.
Training lasted for 7 months and in the end a certificate for
practice was issued to the female students

M103 PGD WEEK 1 17

A. History of Midwifery
Accusations on the capacity and competency of midwives
and the poorly trained surgeons rose up accusations.
Arguments included the poorly trained surgeons and
incompetent midwives lasted until the study of
bacteriology became popular in the early 1900s.

M103 PGD WEEK 1 18

A. History of Midwifery
Women begin to feel safer in the hospital setting because
of the amount of aid and the ease of birth that they
experienced with doctors and found great contrast
between their hospital and obstetric practice in women’s
homes where they could not maintain sterile conditions or
have trained help.

M103 PGD WEEK 1 19

A. History of Midwifery
German social scientists Gunnar Heinsohn and Otto
Steiger theorize that midwifery became a target of
persecution and repression by public authorities because
midwives possessed highly specialized knowledge and
skills regarding not only assisting birth, but also
contraception and abortion. (Lois, 2024)

M103 PGD WEEK 1 20

A. History of Midwifery
CONTEMPORARY HISTORY
Late 20th Century
 Midwives were highly trained and specialized
professionals in obstetrics

21st Century
Medical perception of pregnancy and childbirth as
potentially pathological and dangerous still dominates
Western cultures.
M103 PGD WEEK 1 21
A. History of Midwifery

 Midwives who work in hospital settings also have been

influenced by this view, although by and large they are
trained to view birth as a normal and healthy process.

M103 PGD WEEK 1 22

A. History of Midwifery

While midwives play a much larger role in the care of

pregnant mothers in Europe than in America, the
medicalized model of birth still has influence in those
countries, even though the World Health Organization
recommends a natural, normal and humanized birth.
(Fleming, 2000)

M103 PGD WEEK 1 23

A. History of Midwifery

The midwifery model of pregnancy and childbirth as a

normal and healthy process plays a much larger role in
Sweden and Netherlands than the rest of Europe, however,
Swedish midwives stand out, since they administer 80
percent of prenatal care and more than 80 percent of
family planning services in Sweden.

M103 PGD WEEK 1 24

A. History of Midwifery

Midwives in Sweden attend all normal births in public

hospitals and Swedish women tend to have fewer
interventions in hospitals than American women. Midwives
in Netherlands and Sweden owe a great deal of success to
supportive government policies. (Fortaleza Declaration,
2015)

M103 PGD WEEK 1 25

A. History of Midwifery
2. PHILIPPINES

 The practice of Midwifery in the Philippines coincided

with the practice of Medicine. The Regulation of practice in
midwifery was parallel with that of medicine in the
beginning.

M103 PGD WEEK 1 26

A. History of Midwifery

December 4, 1901, the ratified Public Act No.310 formed the

Medical Board of Examiners which functions as the
regulatory board for both medicine and midwifery
professions (Board of Midwifery, 2013)

M103 PGD WEEK 1 27

A. History of Midwifery

Organizations that Work for the Infants

 Liga Nacional Para La Protection de la Primera Infancia

and Circula Feme nil in Manila-an organization that worked
for the care of infants in the country.

M103 PGD WEEK 1 28

A. History of Midwifery
 The Gatas de Leche and Day Nurseries in Manila and milk
stations in provinces were established in order to supply
free milk to needy babies.

M103 PGD WEEK 1 29

A. History of Midwifery
Later on, similar organizations were also set up in the
provinces to help reduce the appallingly high infant
mortality rate.

 The nationwide campaign to reduce the infant mortality

rate was coordinated with the different social welfare
agencies.

M103 PGD WEEK 1 30

A. History of Midwifery
 Dr. Jose F. Fabella, known as the Father of Midwifery in
the Country participated in the nationwide campaign.
(Fuentes, Jr., 1996)

M103 PGD WEEK 1 31

A. History of Midwifery
Establishment of Midwifery and Midwifery Education (1901-
1940)

 Dr. Fabella founded the Maternity House and later on the

Maternity and Children’s Hospital on November 9, 1920
and now it is known as Dr. Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital

M103 PGD WEEK 1 32

A. History of Midwifery
 Dr. Fabella spearheaded the organization of the premier
school of midwifery in the country, High School Graduates
were accepted to train in midwifery for one year

 Dr. Fabella opened the school of Midwifery of Dr. Jose

Fabella Memorial Hospital in 1922 in Manila with three
objectives:

M103 PGD WEEK 1 33

A. History of Midwifery
 To train young women in midwifery to gradually supplant
unlicensed midwives;

 To train doctors and nurses for provincial work; and

 Give health service and education with emphasis on

maternal and child care.

M103 PGD WEEK 1 34

A. History of Midwifery
 The objectives of Fabella Hospital School of Midwifery
became more defined after producing the first ten
graduates of Midwifery. The objectives were further
expanded to:

 Train students of the school in modern techniques of

attending to normal deliveries; and

M103 PGD WEEK 1 35

A. History of Midwifery
Give practical education to mothers on the modern
procedure of delivery including pre-and post-natal care and
care of the babies (Fuentes, Jr., 1996).

M103 PGD WEEK 1 36

A. History of Midwifery
 Another school of Midwifery was opened later that year in
Cebu (Cebu Puericulture Center) followed by Bacolod,
Negros Occidental the following year. (Fuentes, Jr., 1996)

M103 PGD WEEK 1 37

A. History of Midwifery
 1965-Dr. Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital School of
Midwifery offered the Nurse-Midwifery course which aimed
to bring midwifery education in the Philippines to the level
comparable with more advanced countries in the world.
(Fuentes, Jr., 1996).

M103 PGD WEEK 1 38

A. History of Midwifery
REGULATION FOR MIDWIFERY PRACTICE (1941-1980)

 Republic Act No. 2382-Medical Act of 1959-The regulation

of midwifery separated from medicine.

 Republic Act No. 2644-An Act Regulating Midwifery

Training and Practice on June 18, 1960

M103 PGD WEEK 1 39

A. History of Midwifery
 Republic Act No. 2644-An Act Regulating Midwifery
Training Practice on June 18, 1960- Creation of Board of
Examiner for Midwives

Composition (Board of Midwifery: History 2013)

 Chairman-Obstetrician
 Two Members
 Nurse-Midwife (Must be registered in both profession)
 Midwife
M103 PGD WEEK 1 40
A. History of Midwifery
 Republic Act No. 7392- Philippine Midwifery Act of 1992

Composition of the Board

 Chairman-Obstetrician
 Three Midwives
 One Nurse-Midwife

 Promotion of academic preparation of midwife and its

expanded role.
M103 PGD WEEK 1 41
A. History of Midwifery
 MIDWIFERY ASSOCIATIONS

1947- Philippine Midwifery Association (PHILMIDAS)

Atty Angelina C. Ponce-Head,
members are graduates of midwifery schools in the
Philippines which aims of improving midwifery
education