Beginning of Essay
I've heard that people are still using midwives to assist in births. What is the difference between an obstetrician and a midwife? Should I choose one over the other? A physician goes through four years of premedical training and four years of medical school to le ....

Middle of Essay
.... The doctor trusts technology and is wary of nature. The midwife trusts nature and is cautious about technology. The obstetrician fears a birth may go wrong. The midwife expects the birth will go right. "Midwife" is a word that comes from the old English words mit wif, literally "with woman." A midwife is a person who is "with woman," especially during the period of pregnancy, birth, and caring for the newborn. Some people also use the word midwife as a verb, meaning to help give birth, as in "She 'midwifed' the project." The things that midwives do is called "midwifery" (pronounced mid-whiff-err-ee). There are many types of midwives throughout the ....