midwife droid

• Appeared in:
  
  I
  II
  III
  IV
  V
  VI
  CW

• Homeworld:
  Polis Massa

• Size:
  1.16 meters

• Type:
  medical droid

• 

From the Movies

As Padmé Amidala slipped away in the final moments of her life, she maintained her resolve long enough to give her children life. She gave birth to twins in a strange alien medical facility, cared for by the faceless Polis Massans. Assisting her in childbirth was this midwife droid, whose simple non-threatening shape mimicked the form of the Polis Massans. It hovered aloft on repulsorlifts, spoke soothing -- if alien -- words of encouragement, and used cradling paddle appendages to safely grasp the newborns.

From the Expanded Universe

The Polis Massans of the Local Dig settlement have had very limited contact with humans. While they had access to detailed xenobiographical archives regarding human physiology, the medics of the outpost had no practical experience in treating injured humans. Human childbirth was an even more alien to them.

When Padmé Amidala was diagnosed as pregnant with twins, the chief doctor at the Local Dig, Selif Xam, performed a databank search on recommended procedure. The station's inventory scans turned up a crated midwife droid that the Polis Massans quickly brought online and rushed into service.

With out-of-the-crate programming specs, the droid still had a factory-programmed Polis Massan demeanor. Its facial module was molded to approximate a non-threatening abstraction of the already sparse Polis Massan countenance. Its vocoder produced a gentle female voice, which was dialed up by the medics to achieve a range audible to humans. Its body shell featured a warming cushion, and its arms terminated in cradling paddles.

Behind the Scenes

The midwife droid was voiced by Jane Bay, executive assistant to George Lucas. Bay has worked for 28 years, having been hired six weeks after Episode IV was released.