On the necessity of accoucheurs / by Mogostokos.

  • Merriman, Samuel, 1771-1852.
Date:
[1816]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the necessity of accoucheurs / by Mogostokos. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    For the London Medical and Physical Journal. On the Necessity of Accoucheurs; by Mogostokos. -/-fat IN discussing the merits of the male and female practir tioners of midwifery, it has been usual to argue, in fa- vour of the sufficiency of the latter, that in most countries midwives only officiate upon such occasions, and yet that the parturient women, with few and rare exceptions, pass through the painful process speedily and safely. May it not, however, be doubted whether this argument is valid ? Has the fact been proved that the process of child-birth is more safe and speedy than among us? I think not. We have, it is true, instances mentioned very abundantly of travellers through various countries, who have accidentally met with women speedily and easily delivered, and the same thing is happening in England every day; but is this all ? are these travellers acquainted with the whole of the circum- stances? I fear not. As in our country the frequent oc- currence of easy labours does not prove that parturition is always safe, neither will the occasional instances met with by travellers lead a man of reflection to suppose that the doom, “ in sorrow shalt thou bring forth children,” has been suspended in other parts of the' world, though still in- flicted here. Among the countries considered as more particularly fa- vourable to the parturition of the natives, Italy, Spain, and Portugal have been frequently mentioned. Of Spain I have nothing to say; but the following extracts will, 1 think, go far to prove that in Italy and Portugal the most fatal con- sequences from child-birth are to be apprehended. Signor Assalini, in his “ Nuovi Stromenti di Ostetricia e loro Uso, 1811,” gives a list of the number of women deli- vered in the hospital of St, Catherine, at Milan, during the year 1810. & The