Imagine, for a moment, what it must have been like in the birthing chambers of the 17th and 18th centuries. While most births went according to plan, there could be difficult cases--the baby might be turned wrong, the mother's pelvis might be too narrow: the complications could be endless. Where would the midwife turn? There were no lying hospitals at this time, and no emergency squad. At best, a midwife might turn to the surgeon--not to save the infant, generally, but to save the mother (often at the expense of the child). As a result, no one wanted to...
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Welcome back to the Dittrick Museum Blog!
Today, we are pleased to host guest-blogger Cali Buckley, Ph.D. Candidate in Art History, Pennsylvania State University. Cali has been doing some fascinating research on ivory anatomical models, three of which reside in the Dittrick Collection. Delicate, finely carved, and impossibly detailed, these ivory anatomical models are both fascinating and mysterious. Today, Cali will be talking to us about their curious and often uncertain past. We hope you will join us at the Dittrick Museum's history of birth exhibit, and take a closer look for yourself!
The Elusive Past of Ivory Anatomical Models
Cali Buckley,...
Welcome back to the Dittrick Museum Blog!
In 2010, we featured a post about a contentious debate concerning 18th-century anatomist William Hunter:
Man-midwifery got enough bad press in its day, in 18th century London. Smellie, Hunter, and their confreres have been amply vilified, justly or unjustly, for medicalizing the birth chamber. These chaps have since been heroes of the OB world on one side, and paragons of misogyny on the other. Without wishing to take sides, I couldn’t help but be amused by the latest assault on man-midwifery in the British press, particularly the online versions of The Guardian and...
Angelique Marguerite Le Boursier du Coudray (1712-1790) was the “King’s Midwife” in France. And yet, Madame du Coudray left no journal and few personal papers, meaning that while her deeds are well-recorded, her life is still somewhat mysterious. She remained unmarried, though took on the title of Madame, appropriate to her work as a sage femme (literally “wise woman,” but also the French term for a midwife).
Mission and Machine: “Saving Babies for France”
"Th paradox of the singular, idiosyncratic woman who follows a 'quest plot' instead of a 'marriage plot”
–Nina Gelbart, The King’s Midwife, 13
After ten years as a midwife...