160 ANNIVERSARY OF THE CHILEAN SCHOOL OF MIDWIFERY - IN THE PATH OF SIFRA AND PUA

Midwifery is one of the oldest professions. However, the first attempts to train midwifes appeared only in the seventeenth century and the first maternities, that become training centers, arose in the eighteenth century. Legal Norms for training and practice of midwifery began to be dictated during nineteenth century in Holland, Scandinavia, Germany and France. It is thus noteworthy that a young country as Chile is celebrating the 160-degree anniversary of the School of Midwifery, one of the oldest in the world. After the independence, Chile gave great impetus to education, numerous european professors were hired and the school or midwifery was founded in 1834 by Dr Lorenzo Sazie, a french surgeon and obstetrician. Due to its nature, midwife education must emphasize the ethical aspects of the profession. Since ancient times, midwifes are committed with human life. Hebrew midwifes Sifra and Pua, disobeyed the Egyptian King's order to kill all male newborns, and were rewarded by god, as mentioned in the Old Testament. On the other hand, during the Obstetrics course opening in 1835, Dr Sazie underscored the ethical demands of the profession, exhorting students to be ''mankind ministers''