Editing Chalchihuitlicue (section)

===Childbirth===
Chalchiutlicue was the guardian of the children and newborns. When children fell ill healers would call on the goddess as they practiced hydromancy in order to find the tonalli (spirits) of sick children. As mothers and babies often died in the process of childbirth, the role of the midwife was also of utmost importance in the process. During labor the midwife would speak to the newborn and ask the gods that the baby's birth ensure a prime place among them. After cutting the umbilical cord, the midwife would wash the new baby with customary greetings to Chalchiutlicue. Four days after the birth, the child was given a second bath and a name.

Midwives have their own diety, [[Tlazoteotl|Tlazolteotl]], who presides over steam baths, purification, sin, and was the patroness of adulterers. Although the two goddesses often overlapped, they are not the same.