Robilliard, Gabrielle (2010) Midwifery in early modern Germany, 1650-1810. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

This thesis explores the occupational structure and culture of urban midwifery
practice in early modern Germany between 1650 and 1810. Following the Thirty
Years War many larger cities began to reform midwifery provision. They were
motivated partly by depopulation anxieties and partly by burgeoning civic
confidence and prosperity. In the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century
the Leipzig Council began to appoint midwife apprentices, introduced a
municipal obstetrician (Stadtaccoucheur) to supervise its licensed midwives and
carry out difficult operative deliveries, and began to provide its midwives with
formal anatomical and obstetric instruction through the new Stadtaccoucheur.
Drawing on municipal council records in the city of Leipzig, this thesis traces
the varieties and forms of midwifery practice that existed within the urban setting
and examines the impact of these reforms on the traditional culture of urban
midwifery. It explores the structure of formal and informal midwifery, the socioeconomic
and life cycle of midwives, client networks and the way in which
midwives demarcated their occupational territory amongst themselves and with
other practitioners. This thesis argues that these reforms were not driven by the
state but were rather motivated by the Leipzig Council, the citizenry and
midwives themselves. Moreover, these reforms served to reinforce rather than
change the existing occupational structure and culture of urban midwifery in
Leipzig, which was grounded in the moral economy of livelihood.

Item Type:	Thesis or Dissertation (PhD)
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > DD Germany R Medicine > RG Gynecology and obstetrics
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Midwifery -- Germany -- History -- 17th century, Midwifery -- Germany -- History -- 18th century, Midwifery -- Germany -- History -- 19th century
Official Date:	September 2010
Dates:	Date Event September 2010 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of History
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Marland, Hilary; Stein, Claudia
Sponsors:	Arts & Humanities Research Council (Great Britain); Max Planck Institute for History
Extent:	x, 365 pages.
Language:	eng

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