Midwives in Japan,日本における産婆

Midwives in Japan

The profession of midwife had existed in Japan since the seventeenth century. However, like physicians and nurses, its licensing system was established only during the nineteenth century. The earliest laws regarding midwives were the Midwife Control Regulations, declared in 1867. These regulations chiefly prohibited practices that were not uncommon at the time, such as abortions performed by midwives and the sale of medicines. In 1874, the Medical System Act was declared, and in 1899 the Midwife Regulations were enacted, making a successful completion of the midwifery examination a requirement for entering the profession.
After World War II, the system was further revised under the direction of the General Headquarters of the
Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers. In 1947, the profession of midwife was renamed in Japanese from “sanba” to “josanpu”, and the present system was introduced, under which only those who have first obtained nursing qualifications were eligible to become midwives. Until around 1950, most women gave birth at home with the assistance of midwives. By around 1975, however, childbirth in hospitals had become the standard. Similar to the title of kangofu (nurse), in 2001 the law was amended to replace josanpu (midwife) with the gender-neutral josanshi.

Translator’s note: 産婆 (sanba) uses the characters for “birth” and “old woman”.
助産婦 (josanpu) uses the characters for “aid”, “birth”, and “wife” or “woman”.
助産師 (josanshi) uses the characters for “aid”, “birth”, and “instructor” or “specialist”.