Seems to me there's a fine line here between doulas
and midwives. The term doula came after the Bible.
At the beginning of Exodus there are two midwives
Shifra and Puah who help Israelite women birth.
Exodus 1:15-22. It is a fascinating story.

The midrash (allegorical commentary on the Bible)
says that these two midwives were really
Yocheved and Miriam (Moses'mother and sister)
there's no indication of that in the Bible itself.
Several years ago I wrote a contemporary commentary
on that story, part of which was published
in IJCE a few years ago. Here's the reference
if anyone is interested.
"Shifra and Puah, the Biblical Midwives: A Tribute
to Midwives and Midwifery" International Journal
of Childbirth Education 5(3) August 1990.

There are two references to midwives in Genesis.
When Rachel is having a difficult labor (she dies
in childbirth) the midiwife encourages her saying
that she is having another boy. (Was she saying that
to encourage Rachel, or was it a breech birth, which
would explain the fact that is was a difficult birth,
I wonder??) That's in Genesis 32:17

Genesis 38: 27-30 describes the birth of Tamar's twins,
with midwife in attendance.

Seems that midwives are only mentioned when they take
an active role in the birth, otherwise there was no
need to mention them, since it was the norm.

According to my Bible concordance, these are the only
references to midwives in the Hebrew Bible.

Hope this is helpful.
  Naomi Bar-Yam

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