Supporters of licensing midwives said was that midwives learned the trade of childbirth through trial and error.[12] As well, midwives were consistently accused of practicing witchcraft.[13] Throughout Europe, midwifery and witchcraft had strong ties. Reasons for those ties included midwives' use of empiricism.[14] This, along with their use of herbs and mixtures, including the highly toxic belladonna, made them a target of the church and claims of witchcraft.[15] Women knew that ergot helped in labor and that certain herbs such as pennyroyal or savin "forced the courses," or in simpler terms, caused abortions.[16] Distrust grew of midwives, especially among middle and upper classes.[17]