Midwife

n.; pl. MID'WIVES. [O. Eng. mydwȳre, from A-S. mid, with, and wīf, woman, wife, properly the woman or wife with or attendant upon a woman in childbirth. The Spanish and Portuguese word is comadre; co, for Lat. cum, with, and madre, mother, which is precisely analogous to midwife. Cf. also Ger. beifrau, a female assistant, from bei, with, and frau, woman.] A woman that assists other women in childbirth; a female practitioner of the obstetric art.

v. i. To perform the office of midwife.

To assist in childbirth.

To perform the duties of a midwife to; to midwife. [Obs.] South.