[A study of the organizing process of the modern midwifery system in Yamagata Prefecture focusing on the enactment of "Midwifery Regulation" in the 32th year of Meiji].

The Japanese modern midwifery system was provided at the start by the "Medical regulation" in the 7th year of Meiji and was organized to national unity by the Imperial Ordinance "Midwifery Regulation" in the 32th year of Meiji (1899). During these twenty-five years, Hokkaido and each of the prefectures enacted their own "Midwifery Regulation" to conform with the "Midwifery Regulation," and they organized the original midwifery system. This study focuses on the Yamagata Prefecture and midwifery system in the Tohoku district, and considers the organizing process of the system. Because the Yamagata district continued the Edo Period custom of infanticide, the Yamagata prefectual administration maintained strict control of that custom. At the same time it repeatedly enacted and revised the "Mid-wifery Regulation" to adjust it to the conditions of farm and mountain villages. Finally, it established the original "Registered Midwife System" in the 22th year of Meiji. That organizing process was classified into four stages. The present study shows that the system was not contradictory to the Imperial Ordinance "Midwifery Regulation" enacted in the 32th year of Meiji, which was amended to the unified national midwife system.