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Madame du Coudray: A Midwife in a Man's World?

Here on the Dittrick Blog, we've begun a series on body-snatching for the purpose of anatomy... but today, we'd like to interrupt that history with another, equally fascinating but focused on the other end of the life spectrum. It's National Midwifery Week, and today we present the history of a "woman in a man's world," the midwife Madame du Coudray. 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...

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Madame du Coudray: A Midwife in a Man's World?

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...

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