Shiphrah and Puah were two midwives who briefly prevented a genocide of children by the Egyptians, according to Exodus 1:15–21. According to the Exodus narrative, they were commanded by the King of Egypt, or Pharaoh, to kill all male Hebrew babies, but they refused to do so. When challenged by the Pharaoh, they told him that Hebrew women's labour was short-lived because they were 'lively' or 'vigorous', and therefore the babies had been born before the midwives arrived. God "dealt well with the midwives" and "made them houses".

A midwife is a health professional who cares for mothers and newborns around childbirth, a specialization known as midwifery.