[An empirical manual for the training of Valais midwives]

In the beginning of the XIXth century, midwives from Valais were trained by physicians as well as by clergymen. In the present article, an unusual handbook on delivery is presented; it was written in 1827 by a parish priest. This original empirical manuscript was discovered in an agriculture book in the archives of the parish of Ayent. The text appears to be very representative of the clergymen's concerns regarding midwives' education. The characteristics of this empirical manual are the importance devoted to the new-born's baptism, the omnipresence of death and finally the frequent use of wine in the composition of several medicines.