She should be polite and affable in her manners, sober and chaste, not given to passion, liberal and compassionate towards the poor, and not greedy of gain when she attends the rich.  She should have a cheerful and pleasant temper, so that she may be the more easily able to comfort her patients during labour.  She must never be in a hurry, though her business may call her to some other case, lest she should thereby endanger the mother or the child.

She ought to be wary, prudent, and intelligent, but above all, she ought to be possessed by the fear of God, which will give her both “knowledge and discretion,” as the wise man says.

* * * * *

CHAPTER XII

     Further Directions to Midwives, teaching them what they ought to
     do, and what to avoid.

Since the duties of a midwife have such a great influence on the well-doing or the contrary of both women and children, in the first place, she must be diligent in gaining all such knowledge as may be useful to her in her practice, and never to think herself so perfect, but that it may be possible for her to add to her knowledge by study and experience.  She should, however, never try any experiments unless she has tried them, or knows that they can do no harm; practising them neither upon rich nor poor, but freely saying what she knows, and never prescribing any medicines which will procure abortion, even though requested; for this is wicked in the highest degree, and may be termed murder.  If she be sent for to people whom she does not know, let her be very cautious before she goes, lest by attending an infectious woman, she runs the danger of injuring others, as sometimes happens.  Neither must she make her dwelling a receiving-house for big-bellied women to discharge their load, lest it get her a bad name and she by such means loses her practice.

In attending on women, if the birth happens to be difficult, she must not seem to be anxious, but must cheer the woman up and do all she can to make her labour easy.  She will find full directions for this, in the second part of this book.

She must never think of anything but doing well, seeing that everything that is required is in readiness, both for the woman and for receiving the child, and above all, let her keep the woman from becoming unruly when her pains come on, lest she endanger her own life, and the child’s as well.

She must also take care not to be hurried over her business but wait God’s time for the birth, and she must by no means allow herself to be upset by fear, even if things should not go well, lest that should make her incapable of rendering that assistance which the woman in labour stands in need of, for where there is the most apparent danger, there the most care and prudence are required to set things right.

And now, because she can never be a skilful midwife who knows nothing but what is to be seen outwardly, I do not think it will be amiss but rather very necessary, modestly to describe the generative parts of women as they have been anatomised by learned men, and to show the use of such vessels as contribute to generation.