De practyk der vroed'meesters en vroed'vrouwen, Of de wyse van een vrouw' te helpen in haar kindbaren. Be...

and all incorrect births should never be delayed any longer, and where there are hemorrhages and convulsions or fits, the delivery, for the most part, should not be delayed so long, so that the woman does not lose her life before the water breaks.

And notwithstanding that it may sometimes happen that the labor, after the breaking of the water, can still last for some hours, or even a whole day, or even longer, without dangerous symptoms, I would advise a wise midwife not to run that hazard, and rather to provide herself in time with an expert Master, who may deliver the child and save the life; where it is certain that this delay has cost many a child its life. And one must consider it great imprudence to risk such, as most children perish through it: For the longer the delay of the delivery lasts after the breaking of the water, the weaker mother and child become. And it is always better to seize the opportunity at the beginning than to let it slip away at the end.

And certainly, that midwife is the wisest, and most worthy of regard, who can judge in time where the work is heading, and whether she should await the delivery with patience, or whether she is in need of another's help. And notwithstanding that some midwives wrongly think that it hurts their credit

when they surrender their work, it is nevertheless, in truth, more praiseworthy for them that they save mother and child through the assistance of a man, than that they, remaining alone in the work, indeed complete the delivery, but with the loss of one of the two.

For truly, that midwife does not understand her office well who thinks that she has fulfilled it when she has merely put the woman to bed, as it is her primary duty to ensure that mother and child are separated well and safely, and with appropriate speed: And if this is impossible for her, and feasible by another, it will justify her more that she sets her imagined reputation aside and sends for help, to save the woman and the child, than that she lets one of the two be lost, when it could have been prevented; of which we have an example in the sister of our Author (Mauriceau) in the twentieth Chapter of his first Book.

It is true that in the flat countryside, and in places where there is a lack of good help, a midwife, not being able to do otherwise, is obliged to save the matter alone, as best she can: but in the place where there is no lack of more capable men, it is, by reason, impermissible for her to risk anything that others can certainly save.