is the French word for a male obĀ stetrician and was first used in the 17th cenĀ tury. An accoucheuse could be either a female obstetrician or a midwife. The word literally means "one who attends at a couch or bed," the couch, of course, being the bed of confineĀ ment for labor (even the French would eschew any double-entendre here). The word would be of only passing interest to English- speaking physicians were it not for the term "accoucheur hand," used to describe the posĀ ture of the hand in tetany wherein the MCPs are flexed and the fingers extended. Presumably the alluĀ sion is to the manner in which an obstetriĀ cian holds his hand when delivering a baby.