Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: midwifery

  • Childbirth’s hidden revolution: The origins of obstetric forceps

    Mariam BanoubMatthew HillJulius BonelloPeoria, Illinois, United States The Chamberlen family of barber-surgeons had a secret, an invention unknown to anyone else at the time. They protected this invention at all costs, even when it cost a human life. To ensure their secrecy, they always arrived at a patient’s home in a highly decorated carriage. Assistants…

  • Denis Diderot: Medical

    Denis Diderot (1713–1784) stands among the most influential figures of the Enlightenment. Best known as editor of the Encyclopédie and as a philosopher, novelist, and art critic, he was also deeply engaged with medical knowledge, both as a personal concern and as an intellectual frontier. Diderot did not write systematic medical treatises, yet his essays,…

  • Witch trials: The intersection of midwifery and gendered persecution

    Lara SheehanCork, Ireland Oppressionist behavior towards women was seen during the witch trials of the 16th and 17th centuries, where the illogical execution of thousands of innocent women occurred.1 Midwives were among these executed women for the role they played in being with and caring for women. In the 16th and 17th centuries the subjugation…

  • Massaging the baby

    Erin FroschCork, Ireland The centuries-old practice of baby massage has been used as early as 2670 BC in China1 to promote bonding between parent and child and demonstrate affection through physical touch, words of affirmation, and quality time. It has been passed down from generation to generation in cultures across Africa, Asia, and the South…

  • Momma’s rocking chair

    Frances NadelPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, United States January 21, 1929 Poverty lurks in every corner of the Johnson’s one-room house. Even if mother and baby survive this night, winter will continue to prey at their door. The room grows darker as the fire falters to orange ash, and I place the last log—more like a thick branch—on…

  • Traditional obstetrics in Isaan, Thailand

    Khwan PhusrisomDurham, United Kingdom Traditional midwifery and the culture of birth in Isaan, Northeast Thailand, may hold lessons for the prevention of obstetric complications. Since traditional midwifery has been declining for the past two decades,1,2 in 2020 I interviewed elders in my home village in the Yang Talat district in order to preserve their rapidly…

  • A surgeon and a gentleman: the life of James Barry

    Mariel Tishma Chicago, Illinois, United States   Dr. James Barry with John, a servant, and his dog, Psyche. Unknown Artist. c1850.   “Do not consider whether what I say is a young man speaking, but whether my discussion with you is that of a man of understanding.”1 – Dedication of the thesis of James Barry In November of 1809,…

  • James Simpson, who made childbirth painless

    A large, jolly man with broad shoulders, large hands, blue eyes, and a charismatic personality, James Young Simpson was said to have been the most popular man in Edinburgh since the death of Sir Walter Scott.1 Born in 1811 at Bathgate, he was the seventh son of a village baker in a poor family housed in…

  • Alexander Gordon and puerperal fever

    C. John ScottAberdeen, Scotland The epidemic of childbed (puerperal) fever that struck the city of Aberdeen, Scotland, between December 1789 and March 1792 was unusual. It occurred not in the dirty, crowded, and ill-ventilated wards of lying-in hospitals, but throughout the city and surrounding villages. Serendipitously, one doctor cared for most of the patients. This…