Births in Japan are attended by either licensed doctors or experienced midwives. Childbirth in Japan underwent three significant changes. During the Edo era, from 17th to 19th centuries, birth attendant had been an officially recognized as a profession in Japan. In the beginning of the 19th century however, traditional birth attendants were replaced by modern birth attendants also known as “kindai-sanba”. While statistics suggest that only 2.8% of births in Japan are attended by midwives, it is estimated that closer to half of all births in Japan are midwife-attended. The discrepancy is likely because of a legal provision that doctors must sign his or her name when both a doctor and midwife are present at birth. In actuality, it is a frequent occurrence in hospitals that a midwife attends an entire labor and birth, and a doctor is only called in at the final pushing stage.
