Article: “And the midwife inquired about the fate of the baby who was born. When the pregnant one already became aware of [pains in] her womb, when it was said that her time of death had arrived, when she wanted to give birth already, they quickly bathed her, washed her hair with soap, washed her, adorned her well. And then they arranged, they swept the house where the little women was to suffer, where she was to preform her duty, to do her work, to give birth. If she were noblewoman or wealthy, she had two of three midwives. They remained by her side, awaiting her word. And when the woman became really disturbed internally, they quickly put her in a sweat bath [a kind of sauna]. And to hasten the birth of the baby, they gave the pregnant women cooked ciuapatli [literally, “woman medicine”] herb to drink. And if she suffered much, they gave her ground opossum tail to drink, and then the baby was quickly born. [The midwife] already had all that was needed for the baby, the little rags with which to baby was received.
And when the baby had arrived on earth, the midwife shouted; she gave war cries, which meant the woman had fought a good battle, had become a brave warrior, had taken a captive, had captured a baby.
Then the midwife spoke to it. If it was a boy, she said to it: ‘You have come out on earth, my youngest one, my boy, my young man.’ If it was a girl, she said to it: ‘My young woman, my youngest one, noblewoman, you have suffered, you are exhausted.’ [and to either] ‘You have come to arrive on earth, where your relatives, your kin suffer fatigue and exhaustion; where it is hot, where it is cold, and where the wind blows; where there is thirst, hunger, sadness, despair, exhaustion, fatigue, pain…’
And then the midwife cut the umbilical cord.

1. Describe how the midwife preforms both ordinary physical tasks and spiritual tasks required at a birth?
2. How does this description of an Aztec woman giving birth re-enforce the Aztec warrior cult?
3. What do you make of how girls and boys were addressed by the midwife soon after birth?