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Middlewives. It's one thing to lose our patients to doctors,
助产士们，我们的客人被医生抢走是一码事，
but to those charlatans? It makes me sick.
但被骗子抢走？想想我就觉得恶心。
That’s an episode of the Mindy Project, in which a fight brews between Mindy Lahiri, a doctor, and a midwifery practice. (Midwives!)
这是《明迪烦事多》的一个小插曲，明迪医生和助产医生之间发生了口角。（助产士！）
Who the hell do you think you are?
你以为你谁啊？
Let's say I have a heart attack. How would you handle that?
假设我心脏病犯了，你要怎么处理？
Would you, uh, rub eucalyptus leaves all around my chest, huh?
你会往我胸上涂桉树叶子，对吧？
This is an exaggerated sitcom plot,
尽管这是一个夸张的情景喜剧镜头，
but the idea points to a long-standing culture war between doctors and midwives that's rooted in race and class in America.
但它直指医生和助产士之间由来已久的文化战，而这一问题的根源在于美国的种族和阶级。
Alright, ladies. Let's go downstairs, let's set up appointments with some real doctors.
好了，女士们，我们下楼吧，去跟真正的医生约会去吧。
Midwifery is an incredibly common practice in a lot of countries.
助产这种做法在很多国家都很普遍。
In the UK, midwives deliver about half of all babies, including Kate Middleton's.
在英国，有将近一半的新生儿都是助产士帮忙接生的，连凯特·米德尔顿也不例外。
In Sweden, Denmark and France, midwives oversee around three quarters of births.
在瑞典、丹麦和法国，助产士监督了四分之三左右婴儿的降生。
But here in the US, they participate in less than 10 percent of births.
但在美国，他们参与的接生手术不到10％。
In these countries, the ones that tend to rely on midwives more frequently,
在这些国家，这些倾向于依赖助产士接生的国家，
maternal mortality rates are a fraction of America’s.
产妇死亡率仅为美国的一小部分。
In fact, maternal mortality has risen in the U.S. as it has declined elsewhere.
事实上，美国的产妇死亡率有所上升，而其他地方的死亡率则有所下降。
So if midwives are popular and effective in many other industrialized countries,
因此，如果助产士在其他工业化国家这么流行又这么有效的话，
why is the U.S. medical system still wary of them?
为什么美国医疗系统还是对他们保持警惕性呢？
The answer is complicated.
答案很复杂。
For most of human history, babies were delivered by midwives.
人类历史上大部分时间，婴儿都是由助产士接生的。
Midwifery can be found in the Old Testament.
我们在《旧约》中可以找到助产的内容。
They were respected for bringing their knowledge and training to childbirth.
助产士也因为其接生知识和训练受到人们的尊重。
In America, midwives were integral to both indigenous and immigrant groups.
而在美国，助产士对土著和移民群体都是不可或缺的一部分。
And in the South, they known as “granny midwives.”
在南方，他们还被称为“助产士奶奶”。
Midwives have always existed.
助产士一直都存在。
It's just that we have changed over time.
只是我们变了。
That’s Patricia Loftman, a midwife of 37 years
这位是帕特里夏·洛夫曼，她是一名37岁的助产士，
and a member of the board of directors for the American College of Nurse-Midwives.
也是美国护士助产士学院董事会董事。
When you look at midwifery, say in the time of enslavement,
谈到助产这个问题，比如说在奴隶时代的助产问题，
the midwife was actually the person who made certain that women were able to produce healthy babies.
实际上，是她们确保了女性能够生产健康婴儿。
Now, after slavery ended she was no longer valuable because she was not making certain that there was a continued slave labor.
奴隶制被废除以后，助产士就变得没有价值了，因为她无法让奴隶劳动继续。
I want you to meet Mrs. Mary Coley. A midwife who lives in Albany, Georgia.
让我来给你引见玛丽·科利夫人。她是住在佐治亚州奥尔巴尼的助产士。
Generally in the South, most of these women were black women taking care of women, both black and poor white,
在南方这些照顾黑人和贫困白人孕妇的大多是黑人妇女
because during the days of segregation you could not access hospitals.
因为在种族隔离时期，她们是没有机会去医院生产的。
