TRADITIONAL MIDWIFERY IN TURKEY, GERMANY AND GREECE

ABSTRACT Purpose: The development process of midwifery in Turkey, Germany and Greece, which are home to different history and culture, has also gone through different paths. But the expectation of pregnant women is universal, and traditional midwives have acted on these universal expectations. The aim of this study is to go down the history path and trace the evolutionary process which took midwifery from the traditional phase of being community members supporting the birthing women to modern midwifery education. The study refers to the three countries Turkey, Germany and Greece. Materials and Methods: A literature review was conducted on the traditional midwifery, midwifery history and development of midwifery education system of all three countries by the team of authors as part of an Erasmus + Project [2018-1-TR01-KA202-059488]. The information contained in books, scientific articles, internet library, historical archives and gray literature was included in the research. German, English, Greek and Turkish references are included in the scope of the review. The collected data were converted into a standard shape format and converted into text. The findings obtained from this study are also presented in the project result report (https://projectfirsttouch.blogspot.com) has been published. Findings: Traditional midwifery has been a transfer of knowledge and skills from mother to daughter. Along with rituals influenced by religion, mostly herbal incense, tea and oils have been used in all three countries as auxiliary methods of pregnancy and childbirth. The maternity chair is an auxiliary tool with traditional use in all three countries. There are very few studies in the literature on the scientific effects of traditional methods. Conclusion: As with traditional methods of treatment, there should be evidence-based methods to help childbirth, and there should be methods that will not endanger the health of the mother and baby. More work is needed on this issue.