This paper is part of a major research, entitled «Crossed Roads: the training schools for midwives and nurses in São Paulo (1880-1971)». Its objectives is to discuss the midwives' and nurse-midwives ' roles and their exclusion in the attendance to the childbirth. This study has focused on the first training schools for midwives and the control of the profession, showing that at the beginning of the XXth century, one can already notice a close relationship between midwives and nurses, not just in the schools, but also in the daily work. It starts some expectation that midwifes become nurses too.
History of nursing; Obstetrical nursing; Midwife