midwife
noun
mid·wife
| \ ˈmid-ˌwīf
\
\
Definition of midwife
(Entry 1 of 2)
1
: a person who assists women in childbirth — compare nurse-midwife
2
: one that helps to produce or bring forth something
midwife
verb
midwifed\ ˈmid-ˌwīft
\
or midwived\ -ˌwīvd
\;
midwifing\ ˈmid-ˌwī-fiŋ
\
or midwiving\ ˈmid-ˌwī-viŋ
\
\
or midwived\ -ˌwīvd
\;
midwifing\ ˈmid-ˌwī-fiŋ
\
or midwiving\ ˈmid-ˌwī-viŋ
\
Definition of midwife (Entry 2 of 2)
: to assist in producing, bringing forth, or bringing about
Examples of midwife in a Sentence
Noun
a trained and certified midwifeRecent Examples on the Web: Noun
Kamlaben Dayabhai Parmar, a midwife and an insurance agent for SEWA in Gujarat, would agree. — The Economist, "The poor, who most need insurance, are least likely to have it," 24 Aug. 2019 The New England state tied for first place with Louisiana for most childcare centers per capita, and trailed only Hawaii for the most OB-GYNs and midwives per capita. — Rex Crum, The Mercury News, "Where does California rank for having a baby in the U.S.?," 12 Aug. 2019 Her chief skill is as a midwife, which becomes an increasingly unsubtle metaphor — much of the novel turns on Aino trying to deliver better working conditions for the loggers. — Mark Athitakis, chicagotribune.com, "Karl Marlantes pens another spirited epic, this time about immigrants, logging and labor," 11 July 2019 The novel begins in Finland in 1891 with Maíjaliisa Koski, a midwife, returning home after delivering a baby to find three of her and her husband Tapio’s six children dead from cholera. — Katherine A. Powers, WSJ, "‘Deep River’ Review: In the Heart of the Forest Primeval," 28 June 2019 Both the woman and her mother, identified by news reports as a former midwife from Nigeria, are against terminating the pregnancy, with the older woman offering to care for the child, according to the court and news media reports. — Yonette Joseph, New York Times, "U.K. Court Says Mentally Disabled Woman Must Have Abortion," 23 June 2019 By using midwives, who are paid less than doctors, HealthNet was reaping substantial savings. — CBS News, "Physician exposes dangerous practice involving high-risk pregnancies at Indiana hospital," 14 June 2019 The baby arrived early one April morning, guided into the world by a Bengali midwife while the doctor waited in the next room. — The New York Review of Books, "Maya Jasanoff," 23 May 2019 That same morning, her midwife left town for a week. — Amy Haneline, USA TODAY, "Jessa Duggar had an unexpected home birth on her couch," 21 June 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'midwife.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for midwife
midwife
noun
English Language Learners Definition of midwife
: a person (usually a woman) who helps a woman when she is giving birth to a child
See the full definition for midwife in the English Language Learners Dictionary
midwife
noun
mid·wife
| \ ˈmid-ˌwīf
\
\
plural midwives
Kids Definition of midwife
: a woman who helps other women during childbirth
midwife
noun
mid·wife
| \ ˈmid-ˌwīf
\
\
Medical Definition of midwife
: a person who assists women in childbirth — see nurse-midwife
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