Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Two Obstetrical Heresies, Silas F. Starley

Texas Medical History E-Books

Dr. Silas F. Starley deplores what he considered errors generally taught and accepted in the late 19th century in Two Obstetrical Heresies . “The first is the part that membranes containing the amniotic fluid and the foetus play in effecting dilation of the os uteri in the first stage of labor.The second is the supposed necessity for waiting for their rupture and the escape of the waters before applying the forceps, in every case, without exception.”

Silas F. Starley (1823-1887) was born in Alabama and moved to Texas with his family in 1837. He graduated from the University of Louisville …