midwife
Americannoun
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a person trained to assist women in childbirth.
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a person or thing that produces or aids in producing something new or different.
verb (used with object)
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to assist in the birth of (a baby).
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to produce or aid in producing (something new).
to midwife a new generation of computers.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of midwife
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English midwif, from mid “with, accompanying” ( Old English; see also meta-) + wif “woman” ( Old English wīf; see wife)
Explanation
A midwife is someone whose job involves helping women give birth to babies. Some pregnant women get their prenatal care from a midwife, as well as delivering their babies with a midwife's help. There are different categories of midwives — lay midwives attend home births, and nurse midwives also assist birthing women at hospitals and birth centers. In either case, a midwife is trained to understand the process of birth and techniques to make it easier and safe for mothers and newborn babies. Midwife literally means "woman who is with," or "woman assisting," from the Middle English mid, "with," and wif, "woman."
Vocabulary lists containing midwife
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The wider review into maternity failings in Nottingham began in September 2022, and was led by senior midwife Donna Ockenden.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
To better understand why some populations recover while others continue to collapse, researchers studied common midwife toads living around four lakes in the Pyrenees of France and Spain that had all experienced severe Bd outbreaks.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 15, 2026
The midwife “must have seen hundreds of babies,” Gino observes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
Burrows’ talent was to midwife a real relationship between the viewer and the viewed, “You want to go where everybody knows your name,” runs the “Cheers” theme, and where you know everyone’s name.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 20, 2026
The midwife nodded goodbye, her arms full of Mother’s herbs.
From "Educated" by Tara Westover
"On the other, we are seeing newly qualified midwives facing uncertainty about their future employment. That simply does not add up."
From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026
One account described newly qualified midwives being assigned "high-risk cases", while more experienced staff carry out less complex tasks, adding: "This happens all the time."
From BBC ● Jun. 16, 2026
The report also raised concerns about how patients were allocated to midwives.
From BBC ● Jun. 16, 2026
Many of the delegates are set to march on Saturday in Lisbon for the "One Million More" campaign, drawing attention to a global shortage of midwives.
From Barron's ● Jun. 12, 2026
Sissy told them they were way behind the times; that midwives were things of the past.
From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith
The actually existing Mets were also midwifed by Gotham honchos.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 27, 2026
L.A. didn’t just invent noir; it midwifed speculative fiction.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 11, 2023
Nonetheless, it was born in the shadows, midwifed by people who feared for their social position and economic well-being.
From Salon ● Oct. 17, 2020
Even so, especially at moments of great change, it needs to be midwifed.
From New York Times ● Sep. 11, 2020
Unable to reach his sons, Dad called Rob and Diane Hardy, because Mother had midwifed five of their eight children.
From "Educated" by Tara Westover
“There is lots to be proud of, including midwifing ten new plays by women playwrights from Los Angeles, into the American theatre through our Writers Workshop,” he wrote.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2022
And James will ironically be in the position of midwifing the next phase of America’s gun movement.
From Slate ● Sep. 3, 2020
Mrs. Maas, perhaps best known for midwifing the “I Love New York” campaign in the 1970s, died Nov. 16 at 86.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 26, 2018
However, Campbell is also sharply scrutinized for his role in midwifing and unleashing Dianetics.
From Nature ● Oct. 9, 2018
Mother charged about five hundred dollars for a delivery, and this was another way midwifing changed her: suddenly she had money.
From "Educated" by Tara Westover
Langhorne was midwived in a Bethesda hospital, the middle of three sons to a father who ran a concrete company.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 5, 2015
I pretend neither to the spirit of prophecy, nor to any uncommon skill in predicting a crisis; much less to tell when it begins to be nascent, or is fairly midwived into the world.
From James Otis, the pre-revolutionist by Ridpath, John Clark
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
