Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from An Essay on the Importance of the Obstetrick Art: Submitted to the Examination of Charles Alexander Warfield, M. D. President and the Medical Faculty of the College of Medicine of Maryland, for the Degree of Doctor of Physik
We do not know when aid Was first given to wo men suffering the pains and in the perils of child birth; nor is it materialn to trace the practice to the earliest periods Of human existence. If, however, stress. Should be laid on the antiquity of it, we learn from the highest authority that Rachel, wife of Jacob, and Ta mar were assisted by midwives during their labours. The Egyptian midwives Were employed by Pharaoh for the destruction of the Hebrew children. We' are informed that the mother of Socrates officiated in the capacity of a midwife: And in the works of Pla'. To, an account is given Of the functions and privileges of midwives r'etius speaks of a person of the name of Aspasia, as a midwife, and persons Of the same description are spoken of by Plautus, Pliny, Terence, and several other old writers. It appears however that, in all the ancient languages, the names by which they were called are feminine. Though some au thors speak of men who were supposed to be' skilled in this branch, and employed in those cases which were found unmanageable by the female practition ers, especially in large cities. Paulus, who was born in the island of jegena, in the seventh century, ap pears to have been the first person who was called a man-midwife. He wrote a book m which he partie ularly notice'd women's complaints. His practice how ever ih this branch, was probably altogether confined to difficult cases.
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