The midwife.

In the old times, mothers gave birth to many children (when they were lucky enough not to die in childbirth) with the assistance of a midwife.
Under the old regime, the midwife was elected by an assembly of women, but under the control of a man (the priest) who verified that the person chosen was virtuous, a good Christian and had experience. The notion of good Christian is important because the midwife had delegation from the parish priest to baptize a newborn in case of danger of death. During the 18th century, the control of man remains significant, the priest being gradually replaced by a scientist (a "man of science").

The godfather - godmother.
Godfather and godmother role is important and is systematically indicated in the acts of baptisms.
The godfather and godmother choose the name of the child: at the baptism of Marie Clotilde Pélagie Dobigny in 1759 the priest noted:
"...Marie Clotilde Pélagie... thus named by her godfather Nicolas Denizat and by her godmother Clotilde Dobigny..." Last paragraph of the right-hand page

Reading the acts leads to some surprises:

- The godfather is the priest: the godfather of Marianne Lhomet in 1783 is the priest of La Rochette, Annet Deneupus, right page last paragraph
- The godfather is the grandfather: the godfather of Jean-Baptiste Badollier in 1728 is his grandfather Daniel left page 2nd paragraph
- The godfather is an important person: the godfather of Louis Scipion Joseph Devic in 1738 is Messire Louÿs Scipion Joseph de la Garde, Marquis of Chambonas and Auberoques, Lord Baron of Thénières and the states of Languedoc, etc... 2nd paragraph
- The godmother is an important person: the godmother of François Morellon in 1740 is Dame Marie Anne Lentilhac de Gimel, canoness of the abbey of Remiremont, in the Vosges. Right page last paragraph

The witnesses

Witnesses attend baptisms. Under the old regime, one of the witnesses could be the parish schoolmaster (rector of the low schools) (for example Nicolas Bailly the elder in Montagny-lès-Beaune in the 1720s) or a teacher after the revolution (for example at the birth of Marie Rose Pezet in 1815: 2nd paragraph.
Witnesses must in principle sign the acts. Often, before the revolution, they didn't know how to write, so they couldn't sign. Hence the sentence in the acts: "...who declared that he did not know how to sign...". Right page last paragraph.
But children are born without witnesses, so-called “natural” children, who are baptized and mentioned in the registers under the old regime. After the revolution, it's the same, without baptism of course. We retain the case of Jean Verdier, mayor of Albinhac in Aveyron who relates on November 20, 1821 at seven o'clock in the morning, that "[...] the fifty-two-year-old Mr. Guillaume Delmas, ringer of the bells [.. .] introduced us to a male child whom he told us he had found this morning abandoned at the church door of the said Albinhac, which child seemed to us to have been born the previous night, to whom we gave the first names of Jean Antoine and the name of Albinhac [...]” act n°13 2nd paragraph.
We wish Jean Antoine d'Albinhac a life scenario as idyllic as that which Maurice Tourneur gives to his "Bergere d'Ivry" rather than that of the real shepherdess Aimée Millot in 1827.