midwifery in medieval times

Another exciting contact we made at the HNS conference was with Lisa J. Yarde, a historian and novelist who writes about the period of the Moors in Spain. Lisa, Kim Rendfeld, Judith Starkson, and Sam Thomas explained midwife practices from the ancient Hittites to the 15th century. Check out Lisa's blog at http://thebrooklynscribbler.blogspot.com/

Did you know that midwives were rarely accused of witchcraft? Their importance and status in the community discouraged such allegations. Instead, a midwife was brought in to check the female body for the witch's mark, an unusual discoloration, skin tag, or other anomaly that indicated the place where the witch's familiar drank blood from her body.  Now which of us doesn't have a spot that could be labeled a witch's mark?