During the Christian era in Europe, midwives became important to the church due to their role in emergency baptisms, and found themselves regulated by Roman Catholic canon law. In Medieval times, childbirth was considered so deadly that the Christian Church told pregnant women to prepare their shrouds and confess their sins in case of death. The Church pointed to Genesis 3:16 as the basis for pain in childbirth, where Eve’s punishment for her role in disobeying God was that he would “multiply thy sorrows, and thy conceptions: in sorrow shalt thou bring forth children.” A popular medieval saying was, “The better the witch; the better the midwife”; to guard against witchcraft, the Church required midwives to be licensed by a bishop and swear an oath not to use magic when assisting women through labour.
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During the Christian era in Europe, midwives became important to the church due to their role in emergency baptisms, and found themselves regulated by Roman Catholic canon law. In Medieval times, childbirth was considered so deadly that the Christian Church told pregnant women to prepare their shrouds and confess their sins in case of death.

The Church pointed to Genesis 3:16 as the basis for pain in childbirth, where Eve’s punishment for her role in disobeying God was that he would “multiply thy sorrows, and thy conceptions: in sorrow shalt thou bring forth children.” A popular medieval saying was, “The better the witch; the better the midwife”; to guard against witchcraft, the Church required midwives to be licensed by a bishop and swear an oath not to use magic when assisting women through labour.

Source: Wikipedia

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    Geeze Christians. Give women a break! Give midwives a break!
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