Tending Mothers and the Fruits of the Womb: The Work of the Midwife in the Early Modern German City (Medizin, Gesellschaft Und Geschichte - Beihefte, 64)

The early modern period saw a fundamental shift in the history of childbirth from midwifery as a traditional, largely female occupation to modern obstetrics. The seeds of this transformation were sown in the cities, where municipal governments and their medical officials began reworking the often centuries-old systems of municipal midwifery. In Leipzig they overhauled midwife education and in the 1730s appointed a municipal man-midwife. But why all the commotion about midwifery? How 'novel' were these developments really? And how did all these changes affect the everyday work of the city’s midwives? Drawing on a vast array of administrative sources, Gabrielle Robilliard explores the world of Leipzig’s midwives and early man-midwives from 1650 to 1810. Employing a prosopographical approach, she illuminates in minute detail the occupational culture and structure of both official and unofficial midwifery within the city―including social and economic milieus, client networking practices, and inter- and intraprofessional rivalries―and examines the nature of the encounter between traditional practice and new ways of organising urban midwifery provision. Contents List of Figures and Tables Acknowledgements Glossary of German and Medical Terms Introduction Midwifery in Leipzig Histories of midwifery Midwifery and Enlightenment Time and place: Leipzig, 1650–1810 Sources Overview Chapter One: Midwifery, the City and the State Between Tradition and Reform Regulating midwifery from the Middle Ages to the Reformation From oath to instruction: midwifery regulation in Leipzig Midwifery and the state Reforming midwifery in Leipzig, c. 1650–1740 Conclusions Chapter Two: The Midwifery Landscape Sworn midwives Beifrauen (sworn apprentices) Wickelweiber (swaddling women) Gassenmägde (female street servants) Healers and nurses Appointing midwives The changing structure of the midwifery landscape Chapter Three: Life-Cycle, the Household Oeconomy and the Meaning of Midwifery Work The data Age: the demise of maturity Marriage and motherhood: from matron to working mother Socio-economic milieus: the artisan midwife Midwifery, family and household Midwifery and the household oeconomy: the forces of poverty Midwifery as a family tradition The social and ideological meaning of midwifery Conclusions Chapter Four: The Moral Economy of Midwifery The moral economy as a dialogue Encroachment and the moral economy of early modern work Patterns of encroachment Conclusions Chapter Five: Midwives, Clients and Trust The social and geographical patterns of client networks Midwifery: a matter of trust Mistrust: midwives, illegitimacy and infanticide Defending a clientele, defining a client Conclusions Chapter Six: Midwives, Medical Men and Clients: Demarcating the Parameters of Midwifery Practice Defining midwifery in medical discourses Childbed maladies and childbed practitioners: the parameters of midwifery practice Midwives, Accoucheurs and the power of the ‘patient’ The practice of municipal man-midwifery ‘Natural’ and ‘unnatural’ births Turning point? Booking the Accoucheur Conclusions Chapter Seven: The ‘Difficult Birth’ of Clinical Midwifery Maternity hospitals in Germany and Europe The Stadtaccoucheur plans a ‘Hebammeninstitut’ Midwifery in the lazarette Renewing plans for a ‘Hebammeninstitut’ The Triersches Institut Conclusions Conclusion Appendices Bibliography Indices