TRADITIONAL AND HEREDITARY MIDWIFERY.

Kai Tiaki : the journal of the nurses of New Zealand, Volume XIII, Issue 3, 1 July 1920, Page 123

TRADITIONAL AND HEREDITARY MIDWIFERY.

Little is known of early English midwifery; m ! the tenth century superstitions were rife; the women were untrained, often ignorant, and many of their practices were mischievous. The office was often handed down from mother to daughter; there were generations of midwives, and the traditions were passed on. In the fifteenth 'century we read that a midwife attended Queen Elizabeth Woodville, and m the sixteenth century the social position of the midwife was widely recognised, and she commanded respect and consideration. In Pepys' diary we read of a handsome present being given to the midwife, and m the State records it is written that Queen Elizabeth gave £5 '(a considerable sum m those days) to the midwife of her god-children. It is olily m the last 300 years that midwifery has slowly taken its place as an art and science. In the education of midwives France was the pioneer; an attempt was made to rfegulatte the position of women practising

midwifery and to establish some minimum standard of knowledge. To Madame la Chapelle, head midwife at the Hotel Dieu, midwives owe much and doctors not a little ; she was an able, shrewd, educated woman, and had enormous experience. In the seventeenth century various schools for midwives sprang up, and the medical profession began to take interest m midwifery, which hitherto they had utterly neglected. Chamberlen (the re-in-ventor of the obstetric forceps) attempted to organise ' 'female practitioners," with himself as President and Examiner; Harvey began to study midwifery scientifically. Up to this time " men-midwives " were not employed, and there was much ink spilt m condemning the practice of midwifery, except by women, who feared their monopoly was threatened. The fees paid to midwives were often very substantial; Mrs. Labany, the midwife of Mary of Modena, received £500; This is more than the 100-iguinea fee of the specialist of to-day.