PART 1. READING
Exercise 1. Answer the questions.
1. When did the history of midwifery start?
2. When did the physicians start to practice obstetrics and gynaecology?
3. What advances were made in the 20th century in the field of midwifery, obstetrics and gynaecology?
Exercise 2. Describe the meaning of the sentence: "The medical care of pregnant women and of female genital diseases developed along different historical paths'.
Exercise 3. Read the text and say if the following statements are true (T) or
false (F).
1. Midwives are not the most common birth attendant in the world.
2. Long ago some experienced women helped during childbirth.
3. In China, midwives were respected.
4. In Greece the midwife was a woman who had born children herself.
5. In the 19th century, European physicians began to attend on normal deliveries of royal and aristocratic families.
6. The invention of the forceps used in delivery, the introduction of anesthesia and the introduction of antiseptic methods in the delivery room were the advances in obstetrical practice.
7. In the 19th century, obstetrics developed chiefly in the areas of fertility control and the promotion of healthy births.
8. The prenatal care and instruction of pregnant mothers to reduce birth defects and problem deliveries was introduced about 1920.
HISTORY OF MIDWIFERY, OBSTETRICS AND GYNECOLOGY
Midwives are the most common birth attendant in the world. The average child born in this world is born into the hands of a midwife. The medical care
of pregnant women (obstetrics) and of female genital diseases (gynecology) developed along different historical paths.
As women gave birth, they received care from others. Long ago some experienced women became to be called as ?the wise women? and the helped during childbirth. Thus, the profession of midwifery began. Biblical recognition of the functions of midwives included several verses recounting the experiences of two Hebrew midwives who refused to kill male infants in defiance of the King of Egypt. Historians have found the practice of midwifery referred to in other papyri as well as in ancient Hindu records.