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Nancy Wohl

Midwifery in the Middle Ages

Return to: Middle Ages http://www.loyno.edu/~MidAges/

Parkland School of Nurse Midwifery The History of Midwifery http://www.swmed.edu/home_pages/parkland/ midwifery/txt/mdwfhistorytxt.html	This article gives a general overview of the history of midwifery from Biblical times to the present.
The Thanksgiving of Women after Childbirth, commonly called The Churching of Women http://users.ox.ac.uk/~mikef/church.html	This article includes a discussion of the "Churching" of mothers of newborns, indicating when the new mother could attend church with the infant for blessing from Biblical times to the 18th century.
The Thanksgiving of Women after Childbirth, commonly called The Churching of Women Section Two: The Rite Itself http://users.ox.ac.uk/~mikef/church2.html	This article continues the discussion and describes the actual ritual.
Ancient Souls, Who is Brighid? http://www.ancientsouls.com/whobrd.htm	The article discusses St. Brighid, Goddess of Healers, Poets, Smiths, Childbirth and Inspiration; Goddess of Fire and Hearth and a patron of warfare or Briga.
Were Medieval Women Really Uneducated? by Christy M. Wincovitch http://www.millersv.edu/~english/homepage/duncan/medfem/edu.html	This excellent article contains a discussion of the education of women in the Middle Ages. Most notably, it documents the instances of women in Europe, trained as gynecologists/obstetricians and as surgeons.
The Medieval Midwife: The School of Trotula by Tom Donnelly http://www.millersv.edu/~english/homepage/duncan/medfem/trotula.html	The article discusses the school of Trotula and its influence on women's health interests, particularly, midwifery.
Cesarean Section -- A Brief History http://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/cesarean/cesarean_2.html	This article discusses Cesarean Section and the unlikelihood of a mother surviving this procedure during the Middle Ages.
Internet Women's History Sourcebook http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/women/ womensbook.html#Medieval%20Europe	This is a wonderful resource concerning women's issues in the Middle Ages
Sources for the History of Medicine in Late Medieval England Selected, Introduced, and Translated by Carole Rawcliffe Published for TEAMS (The Consortium for the Teaching of the Middle Ages) by Medieval Institute Publications Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, Michigan 1995	This is an interesting book that gives the reader a good insight into childbirth in the Middle Ages. The text includes a chapter detailing a brief history of midwifery in the Middle Ages. It also has these subchapters in Middle English: "The Midwife, the Child, and the Nurse", "Advice to the Midwife about Difficult Presentations", "How the Parish Priest Must Instruct the Midwife", and "A Satirical View of the Midwife from John Bale's Comedy Concernynge Thre Lawes of 1538".