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Full-Text Articles in Women's History

The Twentieth Century Downfall Of Professional Midwifery In Britain And Its Gendered Connotation, Katherine Epstein Apr 2021

The Twentieth Century Downfall Of Professional Midwifery In Britain And Its Gendered Connotation, Katherine Epstein

Senior Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.


"To Conceive With Child Is The Earnest Desire If Not Of All, Yet Of Most Women": The Advancement Of Prenatal Care And Childbirth In Early Modern England: 1500-1770, Victoria E.C. Glover Jan 2018

"To Conceive With Child Is The Earnest Desire If Not Of All, Yet Of Most Women": The Advancement Of Prenatal Care And Childbirth In Early Modern England: 1500-1770, Victoria E.C. Glover

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis analyzes medical manuals published in England between 1500 and 1770 to trace developing medical understandings and prescriptive approaches to conception, pregnancy, and childbirth. While there have been plenty of books written regarding social and religious changes in the reproductive process during the early modern era, there is a dearth of scholarly work focusing on the medical changes which took place in obstetrics over this period. Early modern England was a time of great change in the field of obstetrics as physicians incorporated newly-discovered knowledge about the male and female body, new fields and tools, and new or revived …


Modernizing Midwifery: Managing Childbirth In Ontario And The British Isles, 1900–1950, Gwenith Cross Jan 2018

Modernizing Midwifery: Managing Childbirth In Ontario And The British Isles, 1900–1950, Gwenith Cross

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This dissertation considers the differences, as well as the similarities, between midwifery and childbirth practices in Ontario and in Britain in the first half of the twentieth century. Addressing the modernization of medical practices on either side of the Atlantic, the periodization of this project reflects the increasing concerns about maternal and infant morbidity and mortality alongside medical and political attempts to ensure the involvement of trained medical professionals during pregnancy and childbirth. In Britain, the establishment of the 1902 Midwives Act regulated midwifery so that only midwives approved by the Central Midwives’ Board were allowed to practice. British midwives …


The Shifting Dynamics Of Midwifery In Urban Seventeenth-Century England, Virginia E. Taylor May 2017

The Shifting Dynamics Of Midwifery In Urban Seventeenth-Century England, Virginia E. Taylor

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Midwives have been unfairly represented in contemporary studies about the profession in urban Early Modern England. Midwives were actually quite intelligent and capable women beyond their skills in the environs of the birthing chamber. These women contributed significantly to their surrounding community in public and private spheres from the birthing chamber to the courts of law. Most urban midwives were highly skilled and knowledgeable in their craft based upon their many years of hands-on education in comparison to the university and book-learned preparation of male-midwives or physicians. These trained women were also literate and openly defended their profession against the …


Women In Labor: How Birthing Practices Reflect Society's View Of Women, Catherine Hill Apr 2017

Women In Labor: How Birthing Practices Reflect Society's View Of Women, Catherine Hill

Honors Senior Capstone Projects

An analysis of the shift from midwifery to doctor/hospital births in the American South, from 1900 to present.


Naturalized Women And Womanized Earth: Connecting The Journeys Of Womanhood And The Earth, From The Early Modern Era To The Industrial Revolution, Maggie Rose Berke Jan 2017

Naturalized Women And Womanized Earth: Connecting The Journeys Of Womanhood And The Earth, From The Early Modern Era To The Industrial Revolution, Maggie Rose Berke

Senior Projects Spring 2017

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College.