Obstetric Course

The term obstetrician comes from the Latin, in particular from “ob-stare”, to stand in front. The midwife, in fact, is the figure who in ancient times literally stood in front of the woman to support and assist her in every phase of her life. The midwife was a respected role in ancient Rome, only the most important and prestigious families were entitled to have a private midwife to serve them. It represented the fidelity, the importance and the vanguard of the family; the midwife looked after and protected all the women in the house. She had, therefore, an important role in society. The midwife deals with physiology: this term derives from the union of the Greek words "physis", nature and "logos", speech. The midwife, therefore, is the health professional who watches over the physiology, that is, the natural course of events, and tries to maintain the health status of the woman, the couple, the family and the child in its first year of life. The obstetric figure can, therefore, be present in each of the following stages of life: puberty, pre-adolescence, pregnancy, childbirth, puerperium and menopause. During her studies, the midwife studied physiology in depth and was therefore used to knowing carefully the regular evolution of things. In addition to the study of physiology, she has dedicated a good part of her years of study at the University to the knowledge of the pathology, so as to be able to identify the alteration of normality and send the woman to the appropriate health professional to follow her. Since each professional is trained in her field, the midwife sends the woman, where necessary, by the figure adequate to maintain his state of health; she is, therefore, able to integrate her knowledge with those of other professionals in order to help the woman.