The 1902 Midwives Act was the culmination of a struggle between those who wanted midwives to focus only on normal births, and those who wanted autonomous midwives with responsibility for all births, both normal and abnormal. The former triumphed, resulting in newly registered midwives who were required to have a mere three months, training (increased to six months in 1916 and to a year in 1926), and who had to call in a doctor in dangerous or difficult cases. Established midwives without qualifications were allowed to continue in practice, as long as they showed themselves to be of good character and obtained registration with the Central Midwives' Board (CMB) by 1 January 1910: some such bona fide midwives continued to deliver infants until 1947. It was recognised that occasionally, in the absence of a midwife or doctor, someone else would have to deliver an infant and this was not prohibited, but the Act made it clear that from 1905 only women certified under the Act would be entitled to ‘take or use the name or title of midwife’ and to ‘recover any fee or charge for attendance as a midwife’.