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.
Pages:
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69