[160th 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 midwives 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 160th 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 of 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, midwives are committed with human life. Hebrew midwives Sifrá and Puá, 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".