Midwifery In The Middle Ages One of the most important jobs to the women of the Middle Ages is often left forgotten and unmentioned. Without these people, there would not have been enough people to populate the villages and castles of Medieval times, or even enough to build such structures. Without someone ensuring that most births are successful, the population would not have been big enough for society to develop manorialism, or enough citizens become knights, or to fight in the Crusades, or to form guilds and towns, or even enough people to consider the Middle Ages a significant part of history, Midwives were an essential part of Medieval society, in many ways. A midwife is a person who assists a woman in childbirth, who, in the …show more content…
Midwives handled most matters of gynecology. Although male doctors had more theoretical knowledge about female genitalia, midwives had more practical knowledge, so most male physicians left gynecology to them. Midwives are most notably known for assisting women in birth. They handled everything from prenatal care to “baby-catching”, or the actual birthing process, to cutting the umbilical cord. Some midwives were even known to perform cesarean sections by the Late Middle Ages. Midwives were also known to turn a baby in-utero just before birth, a risky practice that greatly raises the chances of a successful birth, if it does not immediately harm the baby or kill the mother. Midwives also provided some comfort to birthing mothers. They had some herbal medicines that eased pain, like bark from aspen trees that makes what is known today as aspirin. However, many of these herbal drugs may have not actually relieved any pain or made birth any easier; many historians theorize that many remedies had a placebo effect on the mothers. Midwives also performed some rituals, cast spells, and engaged in ancient practices, like the use of a birthing girdle (later, these practices would contribute to the Church’s accusations of witchcraft towards midwives). One of these spells was a childbirth charm, meant to strengthen the mother through pregnancy, birth, and mothering, and the child until it was mature. In order to cast one such charm, the …show more content…
Midwives often were called to court to testify as a medical expert on matters of pregnancy and gynecology. Similar to the instance mentioned above, although medical doctors had more theoretical knowledge about gynecology, Medieval culture generally left all gynecology and oncology to midwives, despite their technical non-expertise. Court records also support this; doctors were called to court to testify for everything but gynecology. Midwives were known to prove impotence, or the inability of a husband or wife to produce children. Impotence was both legal and moral grounds for divorce, and so midwives testified in the courts as a medical “expert”. Midwives also were called to court to prove the pregnancy of women in order to prove rape cases, and examined the health of a baby in-utero if it was possibly harmed, which was an extra charge in the courts for the offender. Midwives were also known to prove the virginity of a woman in rape cases, before certain marriages, and to prove a woman’s honor in special situations. The most notable case of this was in the case of Joan of Arc. Although midwives did not necessarily have the technical expertise of gynecology that a male doctor might have, they, once again, had more practical
Karen Cushman’s The Midwife’s Apprentice accurately portrays the relationship between a midwife and her apprentice and the technology and methods used by a midwife in medieval England. Often, midwives did not treat their apprentices with respect. Midwifery was a craft involved in the guild system. Within guilds there are superior positions and inferior positions.
In the 1800’s, men were the only ones that became doctors. That is until 1849 when Elizabeth Blackwell graduated from medical school (Lewis, Jone Johnson). Being the first woman to receive a medical diploma, Elizabeth Blackwell opened up the door for women everywhere to become doctors (“Elizabeth Blackwell (1821-1910)”). Women in the 1800’s were usually midwives, but Elizabeth Blackwell changed that for women everywhere. Elizabeth Blackwell was born February 3, 1821 in Bristol, England ("Elizabeth Blackwell").
A woman would only be seen in the public at religious events, weddings and funerals (Bailey). There were no hospitals at this time so childbirth mainly occurred at home, where there was not often a midwife. The father could decide whether he wanted to keep the baby or not. There were also other classes of women such as: hetaera (courtesans), pornoi, poor women, and slaves. Hetaera women were able to go wherever they wanted to; they were generally educated in dancing, singing, music, conversation and other ways of
There are more techniques and strategies for births today. The mother’s are taught to plan ahead and what to do in the event of their water breaking. The doctors today are more skilled to deal with complications if any occur during the birth. Medicine is also a key factor to the advancement of pain management for the mothers with pain during contractions. Epidural and Natural births both have advanced since my Nana’s birth the medicines are more advanced with helping with pain.
By 1900, midwives were no longer in a position of power; they made relatively little money, were not organized, and were not seen as professionals by society due to the lack of education. Physicians, on the other-hand, were attending about half the nation 's births, including nearly all births to middle- and upper-class women. It was the midwives that took care of women who could not afford a doctor. As more and more doctors became educated, the population began to see midwives as uneducated and an indecent way to have bring a child into the world. As midwives began to notice the importance of education, and how the lack of education enabled them from many opportunities, more midwives began to go to school to receive
“Come on, come on! You are pictures out of door, bells in your parlors, wildcats in your kitchens, saints in your injuries, devils being fended, players in your huswifery, and huswives in your beds.” (l.122-125. 2.1) Iago states that women only have two jobs- take care of the home, and give pleasure to their husbands in their beds. The Wife of Bath in Chaucer's, “The Canterbury Tales”, is a successful cloth maker, “At making cloth she had so great a bent she bettered those of Ypres and even of Gent.”
Between 1630 and 1670, about three to ten percent of women who gave birth died following their child’s birth. Childbirth was one of the top reasons for women’s death. Although this was dangerous towards many women, many births still followed (Berkin
In Medieval Europe, women was an essential part of society, especially during the Middle Ages. Women had several roles they carried out that contributed to Europe's growth, such as a peasant woman and the Lady of the Manor. Women also and many expectations in society for their behavior and their way of life. Society's view on women and their treatment towards them weren't the best at times. Despite being seen as defenseless, without women, Europe would not be like it is today.
In her book, ‘A Midwife’s Tale’, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich explores the social position of women in society and the subsequent change in their roles in early American society by studying the life of Martha Ballard. In her book, she questions the impact that the Revolutionary War and the independence of the United States of America had on the lives of American women like Martha Ballard. Martha’s apathy toward politics, her silence of gender inequality of that time and her continuous focus on her daily routine to earn for her family demonstrate that Martha Ballard’s identity of being a colonial goodwife remained unchanged economically, politically and socially by the Revolution and the decades that followed. From 1785 to 1812, Martha Ballard tirelessly
Midwives play an imperitive role when advising women on their care an it is exceptionally important to liase our information in a professional form. Guaranteeing the information is non-biased and informative allowing the women to have control on her decision making (NMC 2017). A quantitive research by Beglry (2010) agress that women who are in our care are to be considered as partners when deciding their plan of care. Within our role a professional relationship is central and women trust midwives deeply. I have found asking open-ended questions promotes and encoursges women to actively take part in the decision making.
Today, when someone is interested in a rigorous, challenging, and significant career such as a career in the medical field, it is encouraged and praised. However, around the 1800s, this was not the case. Before 1849, a woman getting a degree in medicine was unheard of in the United States; the only medical jobs that were suit for women were that of a midwife or nurse. The first woman to successfully change this stigma was Elizabeth Blackwell. She was the first female to graduate from medical school in the United States and get an M.D. degree; Elizabeth permanently changed the medical field and still inspires others.
It was a change because back in their hacienda women were housemaids or would stay home and take care of house work. Although some women still struggled with being in the lower class and being in the city. They were stuck with doing forced labor with bad working conditions. The only way they would receive some kind of respect was midwifery. Centuries later women began to gain courage and stand up for what they believe in.
Other important duties the lady included the preparation of meals, taking care of guests, leading an army when the lord is away, and making sacrifices when it is necessary. Truly, the impact and importance of ladies were far beyond
Women of the Medieval Times Women have always had a significant role in history even though they were treated horrible in most cases. During the Medieval Times was really the first time women were allowed to become more than just a house wife. The fight for equality has always been a struggle and even in today’s society is still an ongoing battle. Although women of lower and middle class were treated poorly in the Medieval Times, some powerful women held great responsibility and were looked up too by both men and children; despite being admired, “men were thought to be not only physically stronger but more emotionally stable, more intelligent, and morally less feeble” (Hopkins 5). “The position of women in the Medieval Society was greatly influenced by the views of the Roman Catholic Church” (Heeve).
Introduction Women in the Middle ages were treated as the second class members within their social class. They were taught to be obedient to their husbands and were expected to run the household and raise children. Their role in the society, however, was much more complex, while some medieval women achieved a high level of equality with men. In the Middle Ages women had a secondary role, coming second after men.