Midwives have skilled hands and know how to sit on them.

The saying contrasts two kinds of expertise: the ability to act effectively (“skilled hands”) and the wisdom to refrain from acting too soon (“know how to sit on them”). Applied to midwifery, it points to a core professional discipline—patient observation, restraint, and timely intervention—suggesting that good outcomes often depend as much on non-interference as on technique. More broadly, it functions as a proverb about judgment in any helping profession: competence includes knowing when not to impose solutions, allowing natural processes (or other people’s agency) to unfold while remaining ready to step in if needed.