The Province of Midwives in the Practice of their Art: Instructing them in the timely knowledge of such difficulties as require the assistance of Men, for the preservation of Mother and Child; very necessary for the perusal of all the sex interested in the subject, and interspersed with some New and Useful Observations.Clark, William
Science
The Province of Midwives in the Practice of their Art: Instructing them in the timely knowledge of such difficulties as require the assistance of Men, for the preservation of Mother and Child; very necessary for the perusal of all the sex interested in the subject, and interspersed with some New and Useful Observations.
Clark, William
Obstetrics -- Early works to 1800
They who intend to practice Midwifry in PARIS, are oblig’d to
attend _anatomical_ Lectures and _Dissections_, that their
Judgments may be inform’d, by the Knowledge of the Structure of the
Body, for an Undertaking so hazardous in ignorant Hands.
London, at present, affords equal Advantages of Information; for
the _anatomical_ Wax-work, with suitable Lectures, might furnish as
good a Qualification, with less Offence than real Dissections; and
there are not wanting those who professedly instruct both Sexes by
_mechanical Demonstrations_.
And for the future, it is to be hoped, there will be no Necessity
for Men to have Recourse to PARIS for _Observation_, since we have
_Infirmaries_ at Home for the Accommodation of Women in Child-bed;
and tho’ they are expos’d naked to the Eye in the _Hotel de Dieu_,
it must be confess’d, that the fundamental Rules of the _Art_ are
not built on what the Eye of the Observer can possibly discover in
the most expert _Operators_; but depend on Circumstances conceal’d
from Sight, within the Body of the Patient.
But whatever Advantages LONDON and WESTMINSTER afford for the
Instruction of Midwives, the Country is entirely destitute of them;
and the best Books on the Subject, adorn’d with elegant Figures,
can give but a very imperfect Notion of the Parts they represent,
to any who have not attended _Dissections_, or seen more natural
_Resemblances_ than Cuts.
The Figures in Books, exhibit the _Bones_ of the _Pelvis_, a
Variety of _Situations_ of the Infant, and _Uterus_, the Placenta
and umbilical Vessels and Membranes, _&c._ whereas it would be
no less serviceable to those, who assist Women in Travel, to be
acquainted with the Viscera, liable to suffer by a difficult
Labour; for the _Liver_, _Spleen_, _Sweetbread_ and _Kidneys_,
if not the principal Contents of the Chest, may be so injured by
the ill _Position_ of the Child, Compression of the Parts, and
rash Assistance, as to prove fatal, more or lets immediately;
occasioning _Inflammations_, _Suppurations_, _Mortifications_,
_Schirrhu’s_, _Cancers_, or _Consumptions_.
The best Writers of Midwifry, such as _Mauriceau_, _Deventer_, _De
la Motte_, _Heister_ and others, explain the Causes of difficult
Births, and the proper Methods of Assistance; but instead of
improving most _Country_ Midwives, fill them with Conceits of what,
it is impossible, they should understand, and thereby occasion the
Loss of great Numbers of Women and Children.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account