Kontakt 2008, 10(1):38-44 | DOI: 10.32725/kont.2008.005

Midwifery in the Czech RepublicNursing

Věra Vránová

Univerzita Palackého v Olomouci, Lékařská fakulta, Ústav ošetřovatelství a porodní asistence

The profession of midwives is as old as the human being history. As soon as in the Old Testament, we can meet a description of practice of Egyptian women and Jewish women, who assisted the women in labour.
The training and education of women being prepared for the profession of midwife was affected and is being affected by many social effects (as e. g. religion, culture, politics, economic effects, development of medicine, knowledge in the field of pedagogy and many others.
The moment of the birth is undoubtedly the most important event in the human life, and it is an experience of big happiness for the whole time of the human being existence, but on the other hand, it is also a danger of death for the mother as well as for her child delivered.
The name of the occupation of women helping in the delivery describes a practice or personality in certain nations. For example the English name "midwife", which comes from Anglo-Saxon words "mid wives", expresses their assistance in the course of the labour. The Danish name "Jordmor", translated as "mother - earth", emphasizes the requirement occurring in many cultures that the midwives themselves should be mothers. The French word "Sage-femme", i.e. "clever woman", puts the role of the assistant in the delivery into the hand of women.
In the history of obstetrics and midwifery, we can find a number of names of women, who dealt with this profession. The names were based on the activity or characteristics of these women. The activities were for example cutting of the umbilical cord or bathing of children and the characteristics were wisdom, maturity, cleverness, respectability, reliability.
The contribution is aimed at certain historical points of interest in the field of the education of midwives. It familiarizes the reader with the contemporary position of the midwife in the healthcare system in the Czech Republic based on legal regulations. The integral part of this system is also building of a professional organization of midwifes.

Keywords: midwifery; assistance in labour; education; midwife; laws; professional organization

Received: February 25, 2008; Accepted: May 2, 2008; Prepublished online: June 27, 2008; Published: July 27, 2008  Show citation