midwife
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.a professional who helps women give birth to their babies.
n.a person, typically a woman, trained to assist women in childbirth and provide prenatal and postnatal care.
Simple“The midwife arrived at the house just in time for the baby's birth.”
In context“In many rural communities, the midwife remains the primary provider of maternal healthcare, offering support that extends well beyond the delivery room.”
Synonymsbirth attendant - 02 C1 Advanced
n.someone who helps a new idea, project, or situation develop.
n.a person who assists in bringing about a specific result, project, or intellectual development.
Simple“He was the midwife of the new peace treaty, working hard behind the scenes.”
In context“The philosopher acted as a midwife to the revolution, providing the intellectual framework that allowed the movement to take shape.”
Synonyms - 03 C1 Advanced
v.to help a woman during the process of giving birth.
v.to act as a midwife; to provide professional assistance during labour and delivery.
Simple“She has midwifed hundreds of healthy babies during her long career.”
In context“The senior nurse had midwifed generations of families in the small village before the new hospital was built.”
UsageThe verb is transitive and takes the person giving birth or the birth itself as the object.
- 04 C2 Proficiency
v.to help a new idea or plan come into existence.
v.to facilitate or bring about the emergence of a new concept, movement, or historical event.
Simple“The professor helped midwife the students' research project from a simple idea to a published paper.”
In context“The diplomat sought to midwife a new era of cooperation between the two warring nations through years of patient negotiation.”
From Middle English midwif, corresponding to mid (“with”) + wif (“woman, wife, female”). It appears not to be entirely clear whether the original understanding was “with-woman” in the sense of “attending/assisting woman”, or “they who are with the woman” (namely the mother).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.