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Midwifery
Secondary Skill
Midwife Mid"wife`, n.; pl. {Midwives}. [OE. midwif, fr. AS. mid with (akin to Gr. ?) + ?
woman, wife. Properly, the woman or wife who is attendant upon a woman in childbirth.
See {Meta-}, and {Wife}.] A woman who assists other women in childbirth; a female
practitioner of the obstetric art.
This skill, although considered a misnomer and sexist by its many male practitioners among
Garou Kinfolk, allows for the assistance in and actual delivery of infants and special physical
and spiritual care of expectant and post-partem mothers. Where the Garou and their Kinfolk are
concerned, however, this Path also encompasses many aspects of animal husbandry where
Lupine cousins in need of assistance while in labor might require them. Although some
complications during childbirth can exceed the scope of even the most trained and accomplished
Midwife, the risk of infant mortality and life threatening scenarios which might befall an
exhausted mother decrease drastically when and where Midwives are involved in the birthing of
children, and in this case, especially Garou children. It should be noted that despite their
overwhelming reputations as "warrior tribes," the Black Furies and Red Talons boast Midwives
that are renowned throughout the Nations as some of the most talented and astute practitioners of
the skill.
Midwifery, as a practice, nearly died due to extermination during the Inquisition in Europe and
again in the early settlement of Puritan North America when witch-hunting seemed akin to a
sport for a time. Due to the fact that Midwifery was based largely on superstition, common
practices included sympathetic magic (such as removing the hairpins from the patient's coiffure,
opening all the doors and drawers and cabinets, and unstopping every bottle, jar, and jug, etc.)
that led, in darker times, to misunderstanding and religious bigotry which was punishable by
many means of torture, death or both. However, the midwife knew the most about female health
-- both from practical experience and medical knowledge, and Midwives were apparently much
prized by the towns (and by proxy, Caerns and Septs) that realized their worth. When the
numbers of practicing Midwives dwindled down so low that the skill itself was in jeopardy of
being lost to the ignorance of the oppressors of the age, men were brought into the practice of the
craft and taught the finer points of the skill so that it might flourish once again where enlightened
science so often fails.
A Midwife understands a woman’s body before, during, and after birth. You use age-old
knowledge rather than modern technology to help lessen the aches and pains, and in some cases,
the associated mental, emotional and physical traumas of pregnancy and delivery.
Midwifery may also act as a specialty of both the Occult and Medicine Knowledges.
l Novice: You can help ease the minor aches and pains of pregnancy and assist in a normal
delivery.
ll Practiced: You know how to make salves and ointments that lessen morning sickness and
migraines. You have helped several women successfully deliver.
lll Competent: You understand the hormonal changes that occur in a pregnant woman and how
to ease their symptoms. You have assisted in difficult labors and deliveries.
llll Expert: You have seen the birth of many children and know how to keep a woman as
focused and comfortable as possible during pregnancy and delivery.
lllll Master: You know advanced techniques of pain control and can assist in the most
problematic of pregnancies and deliveries, including performing a cesarean if necessary.
Possessed by: Nurses, Home heath care experts, Homeopathic enthusiasts, Paramedics.
Specialties: Pain alleviation, Focus Techniques, Delivery, Post Pregnancy care.
Fetishes
Umbral Womb
Level 3, Gnosis 5
When a Garou woman becomes pregnant she normally informs the Elders of the
Pack/Sept/Caern of this issue, who then, depending on the mother’s station within the
Pack/Sept/Caern create this fetish using items chosen by the expectant Garou mother, including a
drop of her own amniotic fluid as well as a small amount of her own blood. The fetish is then
bound with a Protection, Guardian or Wolf Spirit and is carried by the mother across the Umbra
to a Tribal location normally guarded by War and Ancestor Spirits, usually referred to as the
Nursery.
When the mother is, if at all, forced or pressed into combat that requires her to shift to any form
other than her Breed Form, the placenta inside of her body shifts into the Umbral Womb upon a
successful Gnosis roll (only one success is required), where it exists in an undisturbed state of
stasis until the mother shifts BACK to her Breed Form. In order for the placenta of the unborn
child or cubs to re-enter the mother's physical body, she must spend 1 Pt. of Gnosis and make a
Stamina+Survival roll at a difficulty of her current Permanent Gnosis (no less than 3). Only one
success is required... but it should be noted that the mother must have AT LEAST 4 HLs in order
to call the placenta from across the Umbra, for the benefit and well being of both the Mother and
the unborn baby/cub.
In the event that the mother is slain in combat while the placenta rests safely in the Umbra, one
of two things normally happens - either the placenta is kept in stasis in the Umbra until a
surrogate Kinfolk or Garou mother is chosen by the Pack/Sept/Caern to carry the placenta to
term (biological rejection *IS* an issue with this method).
In the event that this is impossible or a suitable Homid or Lupine parent cannot be found for the
infant/cub, the placenta is mystically "wombed" by a spirit chosen by the mother's personal
Totem, and is later born when the spirit materializes for the birth of the child with the Merit
"Spirit Parent," as per the Wendigo Tribebook (ISBN 1-56504-334-0), pg. 48.