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The purpose of this paper is to present the evolution of the history of childbirth in the Western world from the earliest known sources to the contemporary age. We begin with an interdisciplinary literature review carried out between January and August 2017 using both French-language and English-language work from twelve databases (Public Health Database, Cairn, Persée, PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, PubMed, SAGE-Science Direct, Springer, Taylor and Francis, Wiley, and Web of Science) and gray literature. Inclusion criteria were the scope, the reliability of the study, and the relevance of the work. A total of 39 sources were analyzed and then organized into 5 distinct historical periods (prehistory, antiquity, medieval, modern, and contemporary). Each period presents its own sociohistorical and ideological characteristics in order to contextualize the evolution of knowledge, beliefs, techniques, rituals, and professional practices surrounding childbirth. This article finishes with a brief discussion focusing on the symbolic dualities inherent in childbirth.